(Haipo) – Transportation Minister Miri Regev today (Monday) laid the cornerstone for the NIS 8 billion "Nofit" light rail project, along with marking the completion of the project's financial closing. The line will connect Haifa, the Kiryat Shmona, Shfaram, Nof HaGalil and Nazareth in an advanced mass transit system, thus moving the project from the planning stage to the field implementation stage.
Moving from planning to execution: Financial closure allows work to begin on the ground
As part of the financial closing, which was discussed by an inter-ministerial steering team headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Transportation, Moshe Ben Zaken, approval was given for the concessionaire to begin work on the project route. The steering team includes representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety, the Accountant General's Division and the Budget Division of the Ministry of Finance, and the Cross-Israel Company. The ceremony was also attended by the Chairman of the Cross-Israel Company, Benny Kasriel, the Deputy CEO of the Cross-Israel Company, Guy Levian, heads of authorities, and representatives of the concessionaire. The project is being carried out in cooperation between the public and private sectors, in a PPP format, through the selected concessionaire - the Alstom Group, Electra, and Minerva.
Implementation phase: tracks, stations, cars and advanced systems
The concession execution phase includes the construction of the tracks and stations, the maintenance and housing complex, the depot and control center, the purchase of the carriages, the installation of the signaling, communications, electrification, ticketing and passenger information systems, as well as preparations for the launch and commercial operation of the line. The concessionaire will also be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the line for a period of approximately 25 years. The length of the line will be approximately 41 kilometers and will include approximately 20 stations, public transportation terminals, "park and ride" parking lots, a depot and a control center. Approximately 30 trains will operate on the line, with a frequency of up to one train every 4 minutes and a speed of up to 100 km/h on the interurban sections.
Approximately 100 passengers per day and a response to accelerated demographic growth in the North
The train is expected to serve approximately 100 passengers per day and enable continuous, comfortable and accessible travel between the urban and interurban areas, without the need to change modes of transportation. The project is expected to provide a response to the rapid demographic growth in the northern metropolis and the growing needs for employment, education and services. By 2040, the population of the Nazareth urban area is expected to grow by approximately 40%, and in Shfaram and Kiryat Ata by approximately 70% compared to 2020. The line will create a new transportation continuum between residential, employment, education, medical and commercial centers in the northern metropolis.
Minister Regev: "Investing in equal opportunities and eliminating the concept of the periphery"
Minister of Transportation Miri Regev said at the ceremony: "Today we are laying a cornerstone for the future of transportation in the North and marking the beginning of the implementation phase of a national project that is changing reality. Nofit is a central part of the 'Connecting Israel' vision, a connection between Haifa, the Krayot, Nof Galilee and Nazareth, between residents and centers of employment, education, medicine and recreation. This is a major investment in the North, but more than that, it is an investment in equal opportunities and the abolition of the concept of the periphery. Residents of the North deserve the same accessibility, the same quality of service and the same opportunities that residents of the Center receive. The light rail will provide residents of the region with a fast, green, safe and accessible transportation alternative, reduce congestion on the roads and create new opportunities for economic and social growth."
Director General of the Ministry of Transportation and Deputy Director General of Cross-Israel: "Regional growth engine"
Ministry of Transportation Director General Moshe Ben Zaken noted that "the completion of the financial closing and the laying of the cornerstone today are significant milestones in a complex and wide-ranging project. The transition to the execution phase allows the concessionaire to begin work on the ground and accelerate the establishment of an advanced mass transit system for residents of the north. Nofit will strengthen connectivity in the northern metropolis, improve accessibility to the centers of life and will constitute an important regional growth engine." Acting Director General of Cross Israel Guy Levian added: "We are proud to lead, together with the Ministry of Transportation and partners along the way, one of the most complex and significant transportation projects currently being established in Israel. The 'Nofit' light rail will create a new transportation continuum in the northern metropolis, from Haifa to Nof HaGalil and Nazareth, and will be a significant growth engine." The concessionaire, owned by Electra, Minrav and Alstom, said: "The laying of the cornerstone symbolizes the transition from vision to action and the launch of a project with a long-term impact."
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Bibi #1
Stones will be thrown when the train passes the terrorists in Shfaram. The chaos will begin then.
Will it connect to the train that will lead to Kiryat 8?? They also promised a train to the northern region before the elections
8 billion that goes to waste on something unnecessary that will cause a lot of trouble. Who needs Swedes from Shfaram and Nof Galilee to hang around here? There are already plenty here. It's better to think about how to build more public shelters with this money, which would be much more useful.
The implementation phase has been in progress for several years.
Miri Regev wants another title in total
Before the primaries
Sarah is a failure, (the roadkill is rampant), detached, a liar (as in the Balak affair) who mainly cares about jobs for close associates and staying abroad, even during wartime, for as many days as possible.
The topic itself is worth an article – required/not required, priorities, alternatives, etc.
But giving Regev just a headline before the primaries is unnecessary.
Nonsense. An election train will be built maybe in 30 years.
right
To lie to the public right from the title? After all, now they demanded another 2.5 billion shekels for the unnecessary scenery, the train that is slower than any bus and instead of which, for only half a billion shekels, buses could be built on the roads...
It just gobbled up another 2.5 billion when the Treasury claims to the mayors of the Krayots that they don't have 1 billion shekels to build a hospital for 300 residents. Do you understand the absurdity?
There is no large stadium in the city.
There is no hospital in Krayot.
There are no university campuses
There is no marina in Krayot.
There is no sports hall in Krayot.
Why is there money to be poured like water in the State of Israel? On asphalt and unnecessary, superficial infrastructure. On a light rail to Nazareth when all of Nazareth travels to campuses in Haifa by direct buses and they don't want to add 20 minutes to the trip through the Hampeletz Hamifratz center. Yaffe Nof is pushing them there by force. Everyone who works from Nazareth in Haifa will continue to travel in their private car or by bus service directly to their destination so as not to have to get to the Hampeletz center and from there take more buses.
Tourists won't use it either, they get around in rented cars or tourist buses.
In short – the unnecessary train will run empty with a few hundred people morning and evening, just like the unnecessary cable car to the university from the Hampeltz center. The operators will probably demand from the state a safety net that will cost many billions more.
Simply economic damage instead of benefit…
A hospital in Krayot is very important. You are absolutely right.
Miri Regev has done a lot since entering the Ministry of Transportation, certainly compared to her predecessor, Merav Michaeli (but that's not wisdom. All the wise ones probably contributed more than Michaeli).
Still, the order of priorities and the investment of billions in a project that primarily benefits the Arab sector so that they have access to employment and study areas in Haifa and the suburbs is puzzling, instead of perhaps investing in dedicated transportation for IDF soldiers or allocating subsidized plots for construction for Jewish soldiers and new immigrants in these areas, just as huge budgets are allocated to a large portion of Druze and Bedouin soldiers.
Well done. Important project. Good luck.
Listen to someone who knows: Ronen Plot, the mayor of Nof HaGalil, is a major vote-getter for the Crime Party. Miri Rekab: If her brain were transplanted into a bird, the bird would fly back, have to lick and spit out its ass. That's why billions are being invested in a project that has no demand.
Remember the *bullet* train to Eilat? Lots of plans, zero action
Right-wing government, Alak. We need it in Haifa like a thorn in the ass. See you at the polls.
Always before the elections, Miri Regev holds ceremonies and cuts ribbons. Of course, nothing comes of it.
And everyone cooperates with the farce.
The project will be completed when the Messiah comes. The airport in the bay needs to be enlarged and the runway extended a kilometer into the sea.
This is no less important. But they don't cut films here, it's not suitable for them.
Just a show of the transportation problem.
Personal information, we have been working on this project for over 3 years.