Tel Aviv–HaShalom Railway Station

Tel Aviv–HaShalom is one of four railway stations in Tel Aviv-Yafo, all located along the Ayalon Highway.[1] The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality identifies HaShalom as a station located within a large shopping mall and recommends it, alongside Tel Aviv Merkaz, as a primary rail entry point to the city center.[1]

The station's northern exit leads directly into the Azrieli shopping complex and the central business district.[2] Escalators from the platforms connect passengers to the mall, and a covered pedestrian bridge links the station to the Azrieli Center, allowing travelers arriving from most parts of Israel to reach the complex without crossing open streets.[3][6] The station sits partly above the Ayalon Highway, exposing its platforms to vehicle emissions from the highway below and emissions from locomotives—a configuration that drew environmental scrutiny as early as 2007.[7]

The station opened in February 1996.[2] An Israel State Archives catalog lists two files dated 1997–1998 and titled "Establishment of HaShalom Station." However, the listing does not identify them as railway-station records or specify a location, so it cannot by itself establish that they concern Tel Aviv–HaShalom.[8]

By 2015, HaShalom and Tel Aviv Central were described as the country's largest railway stations and as a bottleneck in the network. A study commissioned by Israel Railways found that 70 percent of train passengers passed through those two stations, making upgrades a strategic priority.[9] That year, Green Construction won a NIS 17 million tender for an 18-month upgrade to be completed while the station remained operational; a 2017 report later clarified that the announced sum covered only the first stage.[9][10] Planned works included a new exit structure for passengers heading toward the south side of Shalom Bridge over the Ayalon Highway, bicycle parking at bridge level, and repositioning of the elevator shaft.[9]

The 2017 report placed the broader HaShalom project's cost at NIS 50 million and anticipated that an additional southern terminal would open by October 2019.[10] That timeline shifted; later reports placed the southern hall's opening in either 2020 or early 2021, with sources differing on the precise date.[2][11]

The most dramatic phase of the station's physical transformation occurred in August 2016, when two large steel structures—each 6.4 meters high and 60 meters long, with a combined weight of 560 tons—were lifted into position over the course of a single Saturday.[4][12] The operation took approximately 28 hours and required the closure of sections of the Ayalon Highway and nearby streets.[12] The lift was described as one of the most complex engineering projects in Israel Railways' history.[12]

The new structures enlarged the terminal area and were designed to improve passenger flow, add a direct entrance and exit to Shalom Bridge, and prepare the station for an anticipated increase in ridership connected to the planned electric express line between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.[4] The work's scheduling on the Sabbath generated political controversy, though it was reported to have been coordinated with government ministries, police, and the Tel Aviv municipality.[4]

In February 2021, the Transportation Ministry and Israel Railways announced that HaShalom would reopen with a new southern passenger hall, described as doubling the existing station's size.[11] Israel Hayom subsequently reported that the new terminal had opened approximately 25 years after the station's inauguration.[5]

Built by Israel Railways' Operations Division at a reported cost of approximately NIS 100 million, the hall was designed as a near-replica of the existing northern terminal.[5] It included two elevators, two escalators, two stairways, restrooms, and a café, and was fully accessible to passengers with disabilities.[5][11] The new hall was intended to improve passenger flow and significantly reduce queues for security screening at the station entrance.[11] By the time it opened, HaShalom was handling 50,000–60,000 passengers per day.[5]

Tel Aviv–HaShalom has accumulated more than 250 million passenger journeys since its 1996 opening.[2] In 2025 alone, the station handled approximately 17.2 million passengers—an average of around 1.4 million per month and 50,000–60,000 per day.[2] These figures place it among the most heavily used stations in Israel's network.

A railway-commissioned study reported in 2017 found that 70 percent of people commuting to work by train disembarked at Tel Aviv stations; passenger routes were analyzed to identify bottlenecks and excessively long lines.[10] A 2026 report described the disabled northern-exit escalators as a major bottleneck, with one regular commuter saying that the ascent from the platform to the exit could take ten minutes.[2]

Longer-term planning has considered a separate fast-rail underground station near the Shalom Interchange as part of proposed underground tracks along the Ayalon corridor. A National Infrastructure Committee decision in December 2023 selected the underground-track alternative and characterized Glilot and Shalom as the preferred station locations, although planning decisions remained incomplete when the proposal was reported in June 2024.[13] The Shalom location was assessed as advantageous for passenger distribution and connections to planned metro lines M1 and M2, though planners also noted limited available land, deep excavation requirements, and proximity to existing buildings and planned infrastructure.[13]

By August 2024, the Planning Administration had instructed Netivei Israel to prepare plans for a fast-rail station at Savidor instead, reflecting a dispute between the Shalom option—which would affect towers planned for the Terra complex—and the Savidor alternative proposed by Tel Aviv Municipality. The Planning Administration stated that the selection should rest on professional considerations and on which location best serves passengers; the final site had not been determined as of publication.[14]

Several contested points surround the station's recent history. The scheduling of the 2016 expansion work on the Sabbath drew political uproar in Israel, though the operation was reported to have been coordinated in advance with the relevant government ministries, police, and the Tel Aviv municipality.[4]

Reports give different dates for the opening of the southern passenger hall: a 2026 ynet article states that it opened in 2020, while a Maariv report from February 2021 announced that the station would reopen with the hall the following day.[2][11] Reported project costs may also reflect different scopes. A 2015 figure of NIS 17 million covered an upgrade tender, and a 2017 report said that amount represented only the first stage while placing the broader HaShalom project at NIS 50 million.[9][10] Reports on the completed southern hall placed its cost at approximately NIS 100 million, but the sources do not establish that all three figures covered identical work.[5][11]

In 2007, Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection raised concerns about possible air pollution at the station, citing its partly enclosed position above the Ayalon Highway and exposure to both vehicle and locomotive emissions. The Ministry sought permission from Israel Railways to place monitoring equipment on the platforms, and Israel Railways said it was reviewing the request. The report did not provide measurements demonstrating pollution levels at the station.[7]