Coastal Railway Line, Israel

The coastal route links Haifa with central Israel. Under Plan 65a, the expansion segment runs from Hof HaCarmel in southern Haifa to Shefayim and has been reported as roughly 68–70 kilometers long.[4][5] Stations identified for upgrade along the segment include Atlit, Hadera, Netanya, and Netanya Sapir, while Shefayim is planned as a new station at the southern end.[5] Passenger service extends further north from Haifa to Nahariya, and an older transportation account reported 18 trains per day on the Haifa–Nahariya segment and 43 trains per day between the north and Tel Aviv.[6]

As of 2013, the coastal route was described as the only railway link between central Israel and the north, handling both passenger and freight traffic.[3] Israel Railways had at that time anticipated transferring freight to a planned eastern line running along Highway 6, which would free capacity on the coastal corridor.[3] A 2022 closure of the line for one week was used to connect the coastal line with the eastern railway near Hadera, involving the removal of a kilometer of track and the installation of switches, signaling, and communications systems.[1]

The historical origins of the coastal rail corridor span several political eras, and sources attribute different construction phases to different builders. One account dates the original construction to the Ottoman period in 1913, with subsequent expansion by the British during the Mandate period and further development by Israel in the 1950s.[3] A separate account describes the British as having built the coastal railway as part of a line connecting Haifa, the Iraqi oil pipeline, Beirut, and Cairo.[7] These accounts may refer to overlapping or distinct segments of what became the coastal corridor.

During World War I, the British army built an eastern Sharon line — the Lod–Hadera–Haifa route — which made Hadera a rail hub.[8] After the war, a railway from Haifa to Lod was constructed, increasing Haifa's importance as a regional transport hub.[9] The eastern Sharon line later yielded precedence to the coastal Tel Aviv-Yafo–Hadera–Haifa line, which was built in the 1950s.[8]

During the 1948 War of Independence, the existing Mandate-era rail corridor posed a strategic problem: the line ran through territory that had come under Jordanian control. The provisional government began building a new railway southward from Hadera in October 1948, completing the construction within four years and enabling a Haifa–Tel Aviv journey of one and a half hours; ticket prices at the time were set at 550 prutot.[10] Alongside that work, the government undertook railway construction between Haifa and Tel Aviv as part of broader infrastructure development that also extended lines south toward Beersheba, Dimona, and Zin.[11]

During the transition from the British Mandate, the Palestine Railway Company became Israel Railways, a government-owned entity.[12] Most of the Palestine Railways workforce had been Arab, and the new company faced the challenge of operating a rail network that could not immediately be staffed by Jewish workers alone.[12]

In the four decades after Israel's establishment, the country relied primarily on railway infrastructure and equipment inherited from the British, and rail service was characterized as limited — used mainly by young people for tourism rather than as everyday public transport.[13] Between 1965 and 1985, railway use declined further because of service cutbacks.[11] In 1985, the national rail network carried 2,814,000 passengers and 6,086,000 tons of freight, chiefly phosphates, grains, coal, and potash.[11] In 1986, Israel had 528 kilometers of state-owned track linking Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheba; a 1988 national profile also listed Ashdod.[11] In 1986, road travel was faster than rail on every route in the network except the Haifa–Tel Aviv line, where road and rail travel times were identical.[11]

A broader transportation reform process beginning in 1992 under the Rabin government brought new infrastructure and modern rolling stock. Rail passenger journeys subsequently rose from a few million to more than 70 million annually across the Israeli network.[13] A 2017 tender for 330 new rail cars introduced specifications requiring platforms lowered to the European standard.[14]

The Tel Aviv–Binyamina section, which forms the southern portion of the coastal corridor, was identified as Israel Railways' busiest section in the fourth quarter of 2018, recording 3,328,780 passengers.[2] The Tel Aviv–Haifa section recorded 2,794,270 passengers in the same quarter, presented as a distinct segment.[2]

The COVID-19 pandemic produced a sharp contraction in ridership. The Tel Aviv–Binyamina section carried 2,451,880 passengers in the first quarter of 2020; passenger transport across the national rail network was suspended entirely in April and May 2020. By the fourth quarter of 2020, the same section recorded only 944,760 passengers — 61 percent fewer than in the first quarter of the year.[2]

By 2022, daily passenger volumes at stations between Haifa and Tel Aviv had recovered to an average of 40,000–50,000 per day, and the coastal line was described as Israel's most popular railway route.[1]

Plans to dramatically upgrade the coastal corridor have been in development for several years. The core proposal — designated National Infrastructure Plan 65a — covers the approximately 68-kilometer stretch from Hof HaCarmel station in Haifa to Shefayim, adding two fast tracks alongside the existing two and upgrading or building stations along the route.[15][4]

In 2025, the project was formally listed as "Doubling of the Coastal Tracks," managed by Israel Railways Company, with a construction cost estimate of NIS 15,523 million. Its status was listed as "Initiation," while the tender date, construction start, and construction duration were all listed as to be determined.[16] Earlier estimates were lower: a 2021 report put the figure at NIS 12 billion, while a 2025 report gave NIS 15.5 billion.[17][18] By September 2026, the estimated cost was reported at NIS 17 billion.[4] The sources do not reconcile the differences, which may reflect changes in estimate or scope.

The planned fast service would operate at up to 250 km/h between southern Haifa and Shefayim, cutting the Haifa–Tel Aviv journey to approximately 30 minutes, with some trains stopping only at Hadera.[19][5] Suburban trains on the upgraded corridor would travel at up to 160 km/h and cover the route in approximately 50 minutes while stopping at all stations.[5] A 2040 peak-hour projection envisions 14 passenger trains per hour departing Hof HaCarmel station southbound.[5]

A 2025 planning account listed 11 planned stations, including four new ones: Zikhron Ya'akov, Binyamina–Or Akiva, Netanya Colleges, and Shefayim. Existing stations at Hof HaCarmel, Atlit, Hadera, Netanya, and Netanya Sapir would be upgraded.[5] The track through Binyamina would be cancelled and rerouted near Highway 4 between Or Akiva and Binyamina, with a new combined station serving both communities.[5]

Most of the new alignment would follow the existing railway corridor, with deviations around Netanya, Caesarea, Hadera Forest, and the northern part of Sharon Park to accommodate the higher design speeds.[5] The route crosses 13 local authorities and 11 streams, requiring approximately 50 bridges, culverts, and related water-transfer and electrification works.[5] The plan also includes grade-separated railway crossings and measures to improve stream interfaces.[5]

A separate component — Plan 65b — covers the northern segment through Haifa itself, including tunneling, and is being advanced independently.[4] The 2021 planning approval described adding two underground lines within Haifa, stopping at Lev Hamifrats, Kiryat Hamemshala, Bat Galim, and Hof HaCarmel, while the existing surface tracks through those stations would carry fast service from Nahariya to Tel Aviv.[17]

In September 2026, contractor Danya Cebus won the first construction tender for the fast coastal railway, covering the segment between Haifa and Dor. Initial works include a double electrified track, railway bridges, acoustic walls, service roads, drainage, and signaling and communications systems.[4] Reported completion targets have varied across sources, with figures of 2029, 2032, and 2035 cited in different publications at different times.[18][20][4]

The coastal railway's physical presence has long been a source of tension in Haifa. A 20-kilometer railway corridor through the city — including seven kilometers along the sensitive Mediterranean shoreline — separates parts of the urban fabric from the sea.[21][15] Plans for the Haifa section of the expansion favor underground routing to open coastline, improve pedestrian access between downtown and the water, and free land for housing.[17][22]

In 2010, the National Planning and Building Commission's Coastal Protection Committee barred Israel Railways from placing overhead electrical wires and poles along a stretch of track near the sea, citing severe harm to the coastal view. Israel Railways warned at the time that the ruling could delay the national electrification program and jeopardize electrification of the Akko–Carmiel line.[21]

The 2023 approval of Plan 65a came after seven appeals, most of which focused on potential damage to the coastal environment.[15] Environmental organizations have objected to the plan's potential coastal impacts, and the separate Haifa intra-city section remained unapproved and contested as of 2023.[15] Haifa Mayor Einat Kalisch-Rotem described the planned underground lines as "a real revolution for a city that is desperate to connect with its beach."[17]