| רכבת ישראל בע"מ
Rakevet Yisra'el Ba'am
"Israel Railways Ltd."خطوط السكك الحديدية الإسرائيلية | |
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| Locale | Israel |
| Dates of operation | 1948–present |
| Predecessor | Palestine Railways |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 81⁄2 in) |
| Length | 1001 km |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv Savidor Central Railway Station Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Website | www.rail.co.il/EN |
Israel Railways Company Ltd., doing business as Israel Railways (Hebrew:רַכֶּבֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Rakevet Yisra'el, Arabic: خطوط السكك الحديدية الإسرائيلية) is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. All its lines are standard gauge. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from which lines radiate out in many directions. Unlike road vehicles and city trams, Israeli railway trains run on the left hand tracks, matching neighboring Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, whose formerly connected rail networks were constructed by British engineers. The head office is located at the Tel Aviv Savidor Central Railway Station in Tel Aviv.
Contents
Lines[edit]
Israel Railways' passenger routes are divided into nine operational lines:
Rolling stock
Israel Railways will possess approximately 120 diesel-electric locomotives in its fleet by the end of 2012. Virtually all of its locomotives are manufactured by EMD or by other companies using components from EMD. As Israel Railways' electrification program begins implementation in the mid-2010s decade, the company will start placing orders for new electric locomotives.
All of Israel Railways' passenger trains are operated in push–pull configuration.
Israel Railways employs the following passenger trains and locomotives (partial list):
- ABB Scandia IC3 passenger DMUs introduced in 1992.
- EMD G12 Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives.[1] Israel imported 23 from EMD1954–62 and captured four more from Egyptian National Railways in the 1967Six-Day War. Some have been withdrawn and one is now in the Israel Railway Museum in Haifa.[2]
- EMD G16 Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives, all built for Egyptian National Railways 1960–61 and captured in the Six-Day War.[3] There were originally three but one is now in the Israel Railway Museum.[2]
- 12 EMD G26 Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives introduced 1971–82.[3]
- Vossloh Euro (EMD) locomotives introduced in 2011.
- Alstom/EMD JT42BW and JT42CW diesel locomotives introduced in 1996.
- GEC Alstom push-pull trainsets introduced in 1996, assembled in Israel by Haargaz.
- Bombardier Double-deck Coaches since 2001.; further coaches were ordered from Bombardier in 2010.[4]
- Siemens Viaggio Light (configured as "ISR SDPP train") passenger coaches[5][6]introduced in 2009.
- Alstom GA-DE900 AC locomotives.
Retired rolling stock
- Boris Kidrič/Metalka "Yugo" introduced 1964–72[7][8]
- Esslingen DMUs (introduced 1956, later converted to non-powered coaches)
Performance
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers | 4.824 | 5.100 | 5.569 | 6.382 | 8.785 | 12.698 | 15.057 | 17.540 | 19.826 | 22.927 | 26.809 | 28.351 | 31.791 | 35.136 | 35.934 | 35.877 | 35.929 | >40.000 |
All figures in millions, source [1]
Corporate affairs
The head office is located at the Tel Aviv Savidor Central Railway Station in Tel Aviv.[9]
Until 1980 the head office was located at the Haifa Central Station. Tzvi Tzafriri, the general manager of Israel Railways, decided to move the head office to Tel Aviv Savidor. In May 2009 Yediot Aharonot said that Israel Railways was planning to move the head office to Lod. In response the Railway company said this was necessary to centralize the various offices around Israel, to use a more central location in the country and to have more inexpensive land. The company said this was also central to a major railway station.[10]
Notable accidents
- On December 26, 1963 two passenger trains on the then single-track main line linking Tel Aviv and Haifa collided head-on at Bet Yehoshua just south of Netanya.[11] The northbound train had passed a red signal and its locomotive rode over and crushed the locomotive of the southbound train.[12] None of the coaches was derailed but a coupler broke in the northbound train detaching the rear three coaches.[13] The continuous train brake should have then automatically stopped the detached coaches but it had not been connected properly so they started to roll back southwards.[13] 55 people were injured but only three seriously enough to be detained in hospital.[13] The two head-end crews survived but their locomotives, EMD G12s 105 and 118, were destroyed.[13]
- In 1972 a train crashed into a military truck, killing 18 soldiers.
- HaBonim disaster: On June 11, 1985 a train collided with a bus carrying school children, killing 19 children and 3 adults, near moshav HaBonim.
- On June 21, 2005 an IC3 train crashed into a freight truck near kibbutz Revadim, killing 8 and injuring 198.[14]
- July 8, 2005, a train collided with a truck between Kiryat Gat and Ahuzam, resulting the death of the train driver and 38 injuries.[15][16] Oמ February 2012 a plea bargain had been set[17] for the Revadim crash.
- On June 12, 2006 a train crashed into a truck near Beit Yehoshua, killing 5 and injuring from 77 to over 80.[18][19]
- On December 27, 2009 a train crashed into a car near Kiryat Gat. The driver proceeded without regard to the train checkpoint on the road. The train struck his car and he was killed.[20]
- On August 5, 2010 a train crashed into a minibus near Kiryat Gat, killing 7 and injuring 6. The minibus was hit at 19:05 GMT+3 on Route 353, apparently as it tried to pass over a level crossing.[21][22]
- On December 28, 2010 a fire started in a train near kibbutz Yakum, probably because of a short circuit, injuring 116.[23]
- On April 7, 2011 two trains collided frontally near Netanya, injuring 59.[24]
- On October 4, 2013, two men walking along railroad tracks in the Emek Hefer valley industrial zone were killed by a train.[25]
- On December 18, 2013, a Beersheba-bound train collided with a group of camels walking along railroad tracks at the Segev Shalom Junction in the Negev, killing 14 camels. The incident caused massive delays in train traffic.[26]
- On December 29, 2013, an Israel Railways worker was run down and killed by a train near Lod.[27]
Sources
- Cotterell, Paul (1986). The Railways of Palestine and Israel. Tourret Publishing. ISBN 0-905878-04-3.
References and notes
- ^ Cotterell, 1984, page 136
- ^ a b "Gallery". Fun. Israel Railways. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
- ^ a b Cotterell, 1984, page 137
- ^ "ISR orders more double-deckers". Railway Gazette. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
- ^ "Viaggio". Siemens. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ "Siemens Israel / Mobility in Israel". Siemens.
- ^ "Israel Railways Passenger Trains - Details on Short Iron Carriage Types" (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2008-02-15.[dead link]
- ^ "General Information - Types of Rolling Stock in Use" (in Hebrew). Israel Railways. Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
- ^ "Application Form for Compensation/Refund for Delay." (Archive) Israel Railways. Retrieved on 9 April 2013. "Tel Aviv Central-Savidor Station, POB. 18085, Tel Aviv 61180"
- ^ "From press release of May." (Press Release May 2009) (Archive) Israel Railways. Retrieved on 9 April 2013.
- ^ Cotterell, 1984, page 101
- ^ Cotterell, 1984, pages 101–102
- ^ a b c d Cotterell, 1984, page 102
- ^ Tova Dadon (2005-06-25). "Israeli train crash". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Tomer Zarchin (19 March 2009), "Israel Railways, executives charged in fatal crashes", www.haaretz.com
- ^ Tova Dadon (19 March 2009), "Train, truck collide in south", www.ynet.co.il
- ^ http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=876851
- ^ Ra'anan Ben-Tzur, Oren Rice (2006-06-12). "Train accident in the Sharon region - 5 dead, dozens wounded" (in Hebrew).Ynet. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Roni Singer-Heruti (2007-03-22). "Police: Try Israel Railways head for negligence over fatal crash". Haaretz. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Sagi Bashan (2009-12-27). "One killed in crash between train and car; Trains traffic disruptions in southern Israel" (in Hebrew). Reshet.
- ^ "Seven die in southern Israel as train hits minibus". BBC. 2010-08-04.
- ^ Tova Dadon (2010-08-05). "7 killed in crash between train and minibus in southern Israel" (in Hebrew). Ynet.
- ^ Raanan Ben Zur and Aviel Magensi (2010-12-28). "Fire started in a train from Haifa to Tel Aviv, 116 injured" (in Hebrew). Ynet.
- ^ Raanan Ben Zur and Aviel Magensi (2011-04-07). "59 wounded in a frontal collision between two trains near Netanya" (in Hebrew). Ynet.
- ^ "2 killed by passenger train in central Israel". Ynetnews. 4-10-2013.
- ^ Mati Siver (2013-12-18). "14 camels killed by train in Negev". Ynetnews.
- ^ "Israel Railways worker killed by passing train". Ynetnews. 2013-12-29.
External links[edit]
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Israel Railways. |
- Official website
- Official website (Hebrew)
- Official website (Arabic)
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