The high-speed railway to Eilat (Med-Red)[1] is a proposed Israeli railway that will enable the connection of the main Israeli population centers and Mediterranean ports to the southern city of Eilat on the Red Sea coast, as well as serve commercial freight between the Mediterranean Sea (city of Ashdod) and Red Sea (Eilat). The railway will spur southward from the existing rail line at Beersheba, and continue through Dimona to the Arava, Ramon Airport and Eilat, at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour (220 mph).[1] Its length will be roughly 260 km (160 mi) of electrified double-track rail (not including the Tel Aviv – Beersheba section, an additional 100 km (62 mi)). Currently Dimona railway station is the southernmost passenger train station in Israel and the one with the least boardings/alightings.[2][3]
The railway, if built, is expected to serve both passengers and freight, including minerals mined from the Negev Desert. The high-speed passenger service will carry travelers from Tel Aviv to Eilat in two hours or less with one intermediate stop (at the Be'er Sheva North railway station), and with a slower service offering from Beersheba to Eilat, stopping at a number of towns and villages in the Arava. The freight service will serve as an alternative to the Suez Canal, allowing countries in Asia to pass goods to Europe through Israel. This possible function of the line was again highlighted in the course of the 2021 Suez Canal obstruction.[4] However, the limited capacity of the Port of Eilat is seen as an impediment to such plans.[5] The line is part of a greater plan to turn Eilat into a metropolitan area numbering 150,000 residents, as well as [1] relocating the Port of Eilat 5 km (3.1 mi) further inland.
In 2015, the financial newspaper Globes reported that if the project went ahead, it was likely that Chinese contractors would build the train line and infrastructure, and supply the trains and locomotives.[6]
As of 2019, the project had been indefinitely frozen.[7] But according to a 2020 media report, a rail line to Eilat is planned again.[8] A similar plan was approved by the government in mid 2023.[9]
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
econwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "The Bottom Line / A Slow, Empty Train to Dimona". Haaretz.
- ^ https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israel-railways-rides-again-1001333934 the article acknowledges both the southernmost location and its low traffic
- ^ "Suez Canal crisis: Israel rail route as alternative".
- ^ "Can Israel's Eilat Become an Alternative to Suez Canal?". Haaretz.
- ^ China to be Israel’s biggest infrastructure partner
- ^ "Millions squandered on unrealistic projects". Globes. 28 January 2019.
- ^ "Israel's trains back on track following three-month hiatus". 22 June 2020.
- ^ "PM unveils planned Kiryat Shmona-Eilat fast rail, says could link to Saudi Arabia too". Times of Israel.