Ramla Railway Station

The existing Ramla station sits on the Beersheba–Lod–Tel Aviv line, close to the city's central bus station, giving rail and bus passengers a convenient interchange point.[1] National planning guidance calls for platform expansion, an elevated pedestrian crossing between the platforms, and additional parking.[5]

Israel Railways introduced a dedicated Tel Aviv–Ramla service on April 12, 2003, with 25 trains scheduled per day and a reported travel time of 14 minutes between the two cities.[6] In November 2023, following a period of disruption, the station was reopened as part of the restoration and reinforcement of several lines, with service set at one train per hour in each direction; peak-hour frequency between Tel Aviv and Beersheba was simultaneously increased to two trains per hour in each direction.[7]

During a nationwide railway infrastructure and electrification project, Ramla was among multiple stations in central and southern Israel scheduled for temporary closure. Israel Railways described the work as covering infrastructure maintenance, development, replacement of track components, and restoration of existing tracks.[8] Beginning May 4, 2025, the station's northern entrance was temporarily closed because of changes in railway security staffing connected with reserve-duty mobilization.[9] On September 13, 2026, train movements near Ramla station were briefly halted after police issued instructions following the discovery of a suspicious object, causing delays on services toward Beersheba and on the line to Beit Shemesh.[10]

Ramla's railway history begins with the Jaffa–Jerusalem line, which opened in the Ottoman period. Yusuf Navon, a Sephardi Jewish businessman, received a concession to build the line on October 28, 1888.[4] Financing difficulties led Navon and his partner Johannes Frutiger to sell the concession to the French Ottoman Jaffa–Jerusalem Railway and Extensions Company, which constructed the line between 1890 and 1892.[4] Passenger service began in October 1892, with Ramla listed among the stations alongside Jaffa, Lod, Sajd, Deir Aban, Bittir, and Jerusalem.[4]

The line was nearly 80 kilometers long, used a one-meter gauge because of the curves and terrain of Nahal Sorek, and included approximately 80 small bridges.[4] The initial journey took approximately six hours; by 1901, it had been reduced to three and a half hours.[4] Service began at once daily, was later increased to twice daily, and reached four trains per day during the pilgrimage season, with freight trains operating according to the volume of goods transported from Jaffa to Jerusalem.[4] A National Library of Israel record identifies a 1929 item titled "Dance party at Ramla station," documenting a social event held there during the British Mandate period.[11]

During the First World War, Ottoman authorities nationalized the railway and used it to transport food, military equipment, and goods for Jerusalem's residents.[4] After the British conquest, the line was rapidly repaired to serve approximately 50,000 British soldiers on the Jerusalem front and continued operating throughout the Mandate period.[4] A 1947 archival item identifies flooding at Ramla railway station.[12] Another National Library of Israel photograph is catalogued as "Ramla railway station after its explosion by the Irgun" and depicts gaffirs and police officers beside the remains of the building, although the record supplies no date for the explosion.[13]

The historic Jaffa–Jerusalem corridor declined in importance after the opening of the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem Highway and was closed in 1998.[14] Work to upgrade the old line began in 2002, and trains again reached Jerusalem in April 2005 after a seven-year interruption.[4]

Planning for a second Ramla station—Ramla South—has been underway for several years. A 2016 development plan designated the area around the existing station for a municipal employment and commercial center of approximately 50,000 square meters, while separately proposing Ramla South as a new station integrated into an employment, commercial, and leisure complex of approximately 35,000 square meters.[15]

The Ramla South project is covered by detailed plan 415-0302224, encompassing 34.496 dunams near the Ramla South Interchange, south of Road 431, west of Road 40, and east of local Road 4304.[16] The facility is planned to combine a passenger railway station with commercial and office uses, underground parking, and pedestrian connections.[16] Its infrastructure includes a passenger hall, commercial and operational areas, control buildings, two 350-meter platforms, a pedestrian bridge, a parking lot with approximately 300 spaces, a public-transport terminal, and maintenance and control systems.[17]

A pedestrian passage over Road 53 connecting two development parcels is also part of the plan, incorporating 700 square meters of commercial space at passage level and 5,300 square meters of office space above.[16] Parking provision covers railway users, park-and-ride and kiss-and-ride users, cyclists, bus passengers, and people with disabilities.[16] The plan outlines three implementation stages: preparation of parking and a temporary transport terminal; construction of the full transport terminal and the bridge over Road 53; and continued operation of the terminal during construction. The plan is to be implemented within ten years of its approval.[16]

Ramla South forms part of the Route 431 railway project, an approximately 30-kilometer double-track electrified line connecting Modi'in stations with Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan station.[17] The project is intended to link the southern region with Ramla, Modi'in, and Jerusalem without requiring passengers to change trains in Tel Aviv.[17] A 2024 Globes report put the project's cost at NIS 4 billion and described approximately six kilometers of bridges—including a 3.5-kilometer span identified as Israel's longest railway bridge—and three tunnels approximately 20 meters underground.[18] That report expected commercial operation in 2027, but a later report published on August 31, 2026, placed expected completion in 2028 and estimated the project's cost at NIS 3.5 billion.[1]