The Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station was named after the neighborhood of Bat Galim. Until January 1, 2002, it served all Egged intercity bus routes originating and terminating in Haifa, as well as most local routes. The Bat Galim station was in use for about thirty years.
On January 1, 2002, the new HaMifratz Central Bus Station opened. At that time, all buses coming from the North and the Galilee began to terminate at the new station, and new more frequent lines operated between the two stations. In late 2003, the Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station opened, replacing the Bat Galim Central Bus Station as the main bus station in Haifa. All bus lines coming from the South now terminate there, and the Bat Galim station has become just a stop between the two other stations. Free transfers are available inside Haifa for passengers using Egged's intercity bus lines. All three stations connect to local lines within the city of Haifa as well.
The bus platforms at the Bat Galim Central Bus Station were outdoors. The building also housed outdoor stores and restaurants. On the lower level, one side of the building was used for departures, and the other for arrivals. On the upper level, buses arrived on the side of the building used for departures below. There is a tower above the station. A pedestrian tunnel connects the Bat Galim Railway Station, the Bat Galim Bus Station and the eastbound bus stops on the opposite side of HaHagana Road.
Currently, the Bat Galim Bus Station is only used to store Egged buses, and the tower is used by Egged as office space. Intra-city buses now stop on the road, rather than inside the station, on the route between the Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station and the HaMifratz Central Bus Station. Several buses have their terminus at new platforms outside the station. All of the original platforms are now closed, as are most stores and restaurants. The business area of the station now hosts strip clubs. The pedestrian tunnel is still in use.
Famous quotes containing the words bus station, central, bus and/or station:
“In the dime stores and bus stations,
People talk of situations,
Read books, repeat quotations,
Draw conclusions on the wall.”
—Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)
“There has never been in history another such culture as the Western civilization M a culture which has practiced the belief that the physical and social environment of man is subject to rational manipulation and that history is subject to the will and action of man; whereas central to the traditional cultures of the rivals of Western civilization, those of Africa and Asia, is a belief that it is environment that dominates man.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“An actor rides in a bus or railroad train; he sees a movement and applies it to a new role. A woman in agony of spirit might turn her head just so; a man in deep humiliation probably would wring his hands in such a way. From straws like these, drawn from completely different sources, the fabric of a character may be built. The whole garment in which the actor hides himself is made of small externals of observation fitted to his conception of a role.”
—Eleanor Robson Belmont (1878–1979)
“With boys you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. It’s all there. The fruit flies hovering over their waste can, the hamster trying to escape to cleaner air, the bedrooms decorated in Early Bus Station Restroom.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)