In Plumer Square, about 500 meters west of Plumer Gate, the central gate of the port, is the Haifa Central Railway Station (the eight), another building bequeathed by the British Mandate to the State of Israel.
The central train station during the mandate period
As part of the Haifa port expansion project, the British mandate decided on the construction of a modern railway station, near the new port. The building was built on the land that was drained for the construction of the port, parallel to the new street, "Derech al-Malchim", today's Ha-Atsamat road. The station was built in 1937. It allowed passengers who disembarked from the ships arriving at the port to board directly from the passenger hall to the train that took them to the center of the country. The extensive square in front of the station (the parking lot today) was named after the second High Commissioner, Herbert Plumer.
This train station was the only one built by the British Mandate in Israel. The station building is two-story, which includes a passenger hall on the ground floor and offices on the upper floor. The building is covered with delicately crafted stone, inspired by the Benelux style.
Herbert Plummer
As mentioned, the square in front of the station building is named after Herbert Plummer. lord Herbert Plumer He was a British officer with the rank of field marshal who served as the second high commissioner of the Land of Israel on behalf of the British Mandate between 1925-1928. He was the only commissioner during his tenure there were no bloody incidents between Jews and Arabs.
Clifford Holliday, the architect of the building
The station was built according to the plans of our acquaintance, the British architect Clifford Holiday, the planner of the buildings on the north side of the King's Road. Naturally, he designed the station building in a way that would match the style of the facades of the Kings Road buildings. As I recall, Holliday was also involved (as a consultant) in the planning of the new commercial center built on today's Bankim Street.
The commemoration of the 8 railway workers
On July 16.7.2006, 8, in the midst of the Second Lebanon War, a Katyusha hit the railway garages in Haifa and killed XNUMX Israel Railways employees. About a year later, Israel Railways decided to change the name of the station to "Haifa Train Station Merkaz-Hasmona", thereby commemorating the memory of the workers who were killed in the shelling.
My thanks are hereby given to the architect Walid Karabi, the former director of the Department of Conservation of the Municipality of Haifa, for his help in preparing this article.
Building preservation
The station building was declared a "building for preservation" by the Haifa Municipality and the Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites in Israel. The building maintains its original character despite making various adjustments that were required over time by technological developments.
Dear readers,
The articles in this section are based on open information published in sources such as Wikipedia and other websites and may include various historical inaccuracies arising from the aforementioned sources.
To Orna Atar:
Thank you very much for your complimentary comment. I will only mention that today the station is different from the original plan and yet, we were not able to spoil everything...
Dear Dr. Bar On,
I always follow your interesting and fascinating articles, (I don't always respond) but this time I felt the need to respond.
I personally always, always use the train services from this station, and I always wondered in my heart who was "this genius" who designed this station with so much thought to make it easier for the traveling public to "climb" to it with as few steps as possible, with such ease of access to the train itself.
So thank you for the information, we learned new things.
Kudos to you for your dedicated work.
Best regards,
Orna Norit Atar
Al Chen Meling: Thanks for your comment on improving access to the train museum. I wish you success in improving the issue :).
To Zosha:
Thank you very much for the words of appreciation, Happy holiday!
melody from ling:
I did not doubt the facts recorded in the museum archive. I meant to say that since I am basing myself on Wikipedia articles, there may be historical inaccuracies originating from these sources. That is why the note appears at the end of the articles that refers to the limitations arising from this situation.
I really like David Bar On's lovely illustrations. They are graceful.
Perla, I share your desire to see arrival at the railway museum by train. As you wrote, about 6 years ago we started running a special limited service to the museum during major events.
We are working to expand this service to more favorites and for this we have to overcome many operational, technical, safety and financial hurdles. As part of the Israel Railways Company, we must treat the visitors' lives and safety with respect, as well as the public funds that make the museum's activities possible, without hindering Israel Railways from fulfilling its public mission.
Dr. Bar On, I would like to clarify and clarify that I did not base my statements on Wikipedia or on one or another article, but on source documents, architect's drawings and historical photos that are in the collection I am in charge of, and which is open to the public on the street (by appointment).
The ideal situation is that you board a taxi from Carmel Beach and leave at the check post in the center of the Gulf. From there, a suburban train line will connect it to the Kiryat Hamlet station and Bat Galim. A high-speed train line between Tel Aviv and the Gulf center that will flow through the mountain like the Carmel tunnels will actually allow the removal of the track separating Haifa today. In addition, the development of the Haifa Center station and the Bat Galim station as part of a new structure of residences and commerce in place of the tracks. The area of the tracks on the ground level will become another matron crossing and bicycle lanes that will allow you to take a bicycle in Kiryat Shvarat and reach with them to the station through a residential, office and commercial street that will be called 'Railway Street'.
This is the essential development for Haifa. Unfortunately, due to failed municipal leadership, we are moving further and further away from the vision of removing the heavy rail that will strangle Haifa with electrified fences and electrified trusses that will create an impassable buffer.
To Perla:
Thanks so much for your response. I hope that Mr. Chen Meling, the director of the railway museum who also responded to the article, will respond to your criticism. Happy holiday!
To Miki: Thank you for your comment and Happy holidays!
To Abram: Thank you for your response, indeed the interior space is different but at least the main facade has kept its character. Happy holiday!
The adjustments that were made in the passenger hall space eliminate it, in fact harm the character of the building, it used to be possible to order a meal in the passenger hall and wait in a dignified manner for the train. Today it is only a security checkpoint. It's a shame that they made necessary changes and damaged the character of the hall, it could have been done differently
Interesting and important article.
Fascinating information and thanks to Dr. David Bar On for the lovely paintings of Haifa sites. I find it appropriate to express my regret here that it is not possible to get to the train museum...by train... Not enough, and the information about it is hidden in the tools...
To Chen Meling: Thank you very much for your response, for the information provided in it. As mentioned, the information in Wikipedia is not the same in all articles. Happy holiday!
To Eyal: Thank you very much for your very interesting response. I agree with your reasoned criticism. Happy holiday !
I would like to correct and point out that the Haifa Central station was not the only one used by the British Mandate authorities in the Land of Israel (1920-1948). During this period, several railway stations were built in Israel, both by the civil railway (for example: Ein Harod/Geva, Zichron Yaakov, Tel Aviv, (the old), Hadera, Gaza and more) and by the army (Acre, Nahariya). Many buildings were also built in existing and new train stations, but the main station building of Haifa Central Station was the only one designed by an architect.
Also, the second floor was added in 1958, at the initiative of Israel Railways.
I recommend that readers who are interested in the history of the railway in Israel come and learn more about the establishment of the Haifa Center station in the rich heritage archive that we have in the railway museum (which is located, by the way, in Haifa) and also to look at the books "PR - Meslat Barzel Palestine (AI) - 1920-1948", which is available For sale at the Railway Museum (we can also send a copy, free of charge, to any public or academic library that contacts us).
Another one of Haifa's big misses, which is blocking the renewal of the downtown. The station was built with a large traffic square that allowed bus lines to enter, park and exit, since there is no other central station. Decades ago, the square was no longer used in this way, but a failed municipality allowed it to become a shabby and neglected parking lot. There was never even a sidewalk for pedestrians in front of Beit Dagon on Independence Road or continuous pedestrian sidewalks to the station from Independence Street.
All over the world, central train stations become a bustling urban center - commerce, offices, hotels, large squares with events or markets. The Haifa Center station was designed as a small, secondary station and the square became a parking lot. Part of the square disappeared in favor of the ugly entrance bridge for vehicles to the port, which caused the continuity of Plummer Square to be interrupted by the office buildings in its continuation. The bridge was built because, in scandalous decisions, they saw no value in the area beyond a parking lot, and if it is a parking lot, a huge bridge can be stuck in it. But just as in Tel Aviv they destroyed the Ma'ariv bridge that cut off Derech Begin, so it would be better to bring D-9 to lower the bridge and make it possible to develop a beautiful urban square.
Not many people know about the Haifa Center station, but it was planned to be closed anyway. A train station was supposed to be built in front of the Kiryat HaMelmet and there was a plan to connect it with a pedestrian bridge straight to the level of the Migdal HaMelmet square (the Sail Tower). This was more correct and allows rapid connectivity between train passengers to Kiryat Havrat and the Carmelit station. A bus terminal north of Neve Shanan, Kiryot, Acre, etc. was also supposed to be built in Kiryat Hamlet.
We are left with the Haifa Merkaz station, which is both small and difficult to get to, and those leaving it are also "face-to-face" with a Greek Catholic cemetery on the other side of Independence Road. In a place where there will be an active urban center around the station and the station itself will be a hub of activity that brings tens of thousands of people to the square and surrounding buildings, those who come to Kiryat Havrat are required to stand on narrow and dangerous matron platforms and take a two-stop bus to Kiryat Havrat and there cross the busy Independence Road, and climb the stairs to the Sail building. Poor connectivity, which created an urban disconnect in the place where the train station will be used to connect the two sides of Independence Road as planned with a new station in front of the Sail Tower.
We got the worst of all worlds: a run-down entrance that tourists see when they arrive in Haifa Center (the only station close to the settlement where hotels were built, and at least it serves them by walking for 10 minutes, but this walk is also done on run-down sidewalks in front of closed shops, car garages and run-down buildings. As he said To me, a tourist who arrived at the Haifa Central Station and stayed at a hotel on Jaffa Street: "This is the smallest central train station I've ever seen, and when I got off the train, my first impression was 'maybe I made a mistake and didn't get off at the city's central station but in an industrial area?'
To Haifai: Thank you for your response, Happy Holidays!
Thank you very much for your articles. I'm sure the city's engineering director has all the plans and dates.
To Rebecca: Thank you for your response, Happy Holidays!
To Rafi Raphael Hasson: Thank you for your comment, dear Rafi, Happy Holidays!
Very interesting!
Well done to you my friend Dr. David Bar On. Happy Hanukkah 🕎
To Perry - Thank you very much for your response, interesting information.
To Neely N.- Thank you very much for your words, dear Neely.
L-I just wanted to know- thanks for your response. It turns out that there are differences between different articles on Wikipedia.... And in any case, there is no absolute truth.
Wikipedia quote:
"In 1930 the Acre railway station was inaugurated, and in 1937 the Haifa Central railway station was inaugurated and in 1942 the British authorities inaugurated the entire Haifa - Beirut - Tripoli railway. In July 1945 the Nahariya railway station was inaugurated."
Not only the Acre and Nahariya stations were established during the mandate period, but also many other stations.
The area of the station and the parking lot, including part of the area of Beit Dagon, were used as a residential encampment for Horani workers and others who came mainly from Syria and built the high-rise buildings from the southern past of the Kings Street for the wealthy Arab gentlemen with their hands without machines. They worked in groups as Rice with a whip would spur them on. They also worked in the construction of the port and the train station, and when they finished all the work, they did not return to Syria, they stayed here and are called Palestinians themselves and their children's children.
Beautiful and interesting. Your weekly illustrations and writings are a small island of sanity in the sea of insanity that surrounds us. thanks