The electrification of the railway tracks has reached a dead end in Haifa, and the issue is currently being taken to court. The Haifa Municipality is demanding a different solution from that of Israel Railways, and is seeking to change the route of the project – not only engineering, but also conceptually. While the railway management is interested in moving forward with the electrification of the overhead tracks, the Haifa Municipality is demanding a halt, as the Ministry of Finance has promised.
What will determine the fate of the connection between the city and its coast?
Railway electrification halted due to fundamental dispute
Israel Railways planned to electrify the entire length of the railway lines, but in the lower city of Haifa, the project was halted due to opposition from the municipality, leading to a legal dispute.
The Haifa Municipality's main demand is to bury the tracks in the downtown area and Hecht Park - areas that are sensitive from an urban, scenic, and touristic perspective.
The court referred the parties to mediation, but if the municipality insists on its demand, it appears that Haifa may find itself in a similar situation to the past – future promises of subsidence, but in practice continued overhead electrification.
"Future settlement" without practical planning or budget
Sharp criticism is directed at the railway plan from professional and social groups, who claim that promises of future subsidence are an illusion.
According to the members, the plan does not include a budget, timetables or engineering approvals that would allow its implementation in the future. According to them, this is a strategy that allows the railway to receive the implementation permit for electrification of overhead lines while presenting an unrealized and unachievable vision, just to circumvent public objections.
Comparing the Alternatives: Between Objectivity and Deception
The railway engineers presented a comparison of alternatives that does not reflect a complete and objective picture.
In my opinion, the data is presented in a biased manner, in order to justify the alternative preferred by the railway management. In my opinion, it is precisely Alternative 10 – the construction of a short tunnel between the Hof Carmel and Kiryat Hamal stations – that offers a better transportation, economic and environmental solution, and is also the only realistic alternative for implementation in terms of engineering planning and infrastructure.
"Temporary" overhead electrification that threatens to become permanent
The Haifa Municipality is facing a fateful decision:
Should we fight for a truly sustainable alternative, or accept a plan for overhead electrification, which could be presented as "temporary," but in practice will be permanent?
The electric poles, cables, and steel fences expected to be built this year will profoundly disrupt the connection between the city and its waterfront – a connection that is at the heart of its economic and tourist development. Without a real solution, Haifa could lose a historic opportunity to reshape its urban image.
An important article.
Thank you.
Of course, my time is the most permanent.
We must insist on the train sinking.
This is significant for the city.
At the end of his third term, the current mayor shook hands with representatives of the railway and the Treasury and announced the 'Hecht Park Subsidence Plan' as a political achievement. Even then, it was completely clear: it has no budget, timetables, or feasibility in groundwater and the Katzaa line. This is a game of catch-all for all parties, each for their own needs: the railway will receive temporary, i.e. permanent, overhead electrification, the Treasury will not really spend a shekel, only promise, and the mayor will receive a virtual achievement. Now he is fighting the virtual achievement he welcomed.
It is clear to anyone who is familiar with the details that we could be in a completely different place today: during the excavation of the railway tunnels, as the Carmel Tunnels were excavated. During the construction of the railway bridge, and the new Carmel Beach station next to it. During level changes in preparation for the second exit of the railway at the Check Post junction. By 2030, we could have a coastline completely free of existing tracks, and two additional tracks, let's not forget that the state is interested in adding trains from the Gulf Port and a high-speed train as reinforcements.
The Haifa Municipality and the city engineer opposed the tunneling – a truly illusory opposition, falsely claiming that the train would “skip Haifa,” even though it would only skip two stations: Bat Galim and Haifa Center, which could be connected by a light rail like the one in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as part of urban development of the seafront.
But no! Waterman and Klish forcibly prevented any attempt to reach the railway tunnel and also harmed Haifa with an alternative plan to rebuild the Hof Carmel station in its place, with lots of parking spaces and preparation for the sinking of two lines that will reach it underground as if they will continue underground from there. It's all a sham, it's all a billion-shekel planning show to rebuild the Hof Carmel train station in its poor location, and instead of rebuilding it for the needs of the railway tunnel through the mountain.
The damage done is enormous and twofold: In the end, the state will decide to electrify the overhead lines and add 2 more tracks through all of Haifa's shores and downtown Haifa. 4-5 meter fences will surround the electrification poles and 4 tracks, a complete and impassable barrier (there is even a demand to close the entrance to vehicles near the Maxim restaurant, the train requires a huge overhead interchange like the one at Allenby)
This is definitely the 90th minute to act, stop the overhead electrification and bring to expedited approval a railway tunneling plan with a statutory planning of one year and another 4 years of construction. In 2030, the vision of the seafront can be realized without the interference of heavy railway tracks. Accessibility to the Check Post will lead to its economic boom and after the evacuation of the ZEN and petrochemical industries, it will be at the heart of Haifa's future neighborhoods.
The connection route to the checkpoint allows for another thing: at the bottom of Wadi HaGivorim, a train station can be created between the Carmel Beach and the checkpoint. With elevators and parking levels, Carmel residents will be able to get down to the train by elevator, instead of traveling to the checkpoint or the Carmel Beach. The Wadi HaGivorim station will also serve as a huge emergency shelter, emergency storage, a parking lot for visitors to the Romema Sports Hall and a parking lot for the train station, a taxi stand, a bus stop and a bicycle parking lot, and at the bottom – the Israel Railways levels. This could be the most advanced train station of its kind in the world, combining all types of transportation: heavy rail, metro and buses, bicycles, elevators, taxis and a pedestrian conveyor to the Romema Hall.
It's not hard to imagine the enormous benefits that the railway tunnel in Haifa will bring. Only the previous mayor and city engineer had a hard time imagining it. Let's correct the mistake they made.
I agree with most of the things, but a station in Kiryat HaMalma, instead of the Hadgon station, is essential, which will serve not only the heart of the city, but also Hadar and the Carmel via the Carmelit. The train will reach the Lev Hamifratz station in any case. A separate question is why there are 6 tracks between Haifa and Tel Aviv, 4 western and two eastern, when between Milan and Rome, Paris and London, etc. throughout Europe, the standard is 2 tracks.
Thank you for sharing the program and distributing it to the general public. Fascinating.