The opening of the Tel Aviv light rail Red Line has been postponed by four months until at least March 2023, a senior source at the Ministry of Transport has told “Globes.” Despite an improvement in the performance of the light rail’s signaling system, the company appointed by the Ministry of Transport to supervise the project estimates that the Red Line will not begin operating until June 2023. The postponement is costing an estimated NIS 40 million per month.
As previously revealed by “Globes,” the problems with the signals and other systems causes a sudden halt of the light rail. The Ministry of Transport director general and senior officials experienced this for themselves during a test run just more than a month ago. The signals are the ‘nervous system’ of the light rail, working in coordination with the carriages, doors and stations, so that when communications with the signals is faulty, the light rail carriages make an emergency stop. There are also other problems in the operations of the light rail related to various restrictions including speed limitations.
The state chose a complex signaling system for the Tel Aviv light rail with an automatic system on the underground sections and a manual system above ground and coordinating the two types of system is proving difficult.
NTA – Metropolitan Mass Transit System, which is overseeing the project, has been encouraged by the decline in the number of emergency stops during trials and at the start of next month a new updated version of the signaling system will begin operating. If the system proves that it can work stably then an official commencement date for commercial operations of the Tel Aviv light rail Red Line will be announced. If the system works well then NTA is likely to announce the end of March 2023 as the date for starting operations but the company supervising the project assumes that June 2023 will be the launch date. In any event, the Ministry of Transport, which feels unable to control events amid all the delays is not convinced that NTA’s forecast date of late March 2023 is viable.
A senior source at the Ministry of Transport said, “There is a fault with the signaling system that has brought about a delay in operating the line. It is the job of the steering committee to ensure that the revised timetable for operating the line is implemented and no clear picture has yet been received from NTA.”
Due to the problems with the timetable, the Ministry of Transport has refrained from announcing the postponement, without details of a new precise date being stipulated for the commencement of operations.
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The Ministry of Transport said, “NTA is managing the Red line and is responsible for building and operating it. Representatives of the state on the steering committee, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Finance are supporting the company and assisting in every way to complete the project, without compromising on matters of safety and operating the service.”
NTA said, “NTA is not engaged in this or that estimate and does not know about the date mentioned but is investing all its resources in working around the clock in order to operate the light rail without compromising on full credibility, and safety.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on October 23, 2022.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.
