Construction
In the 1990s, a light rail system was proposed as a means of providing faster and less polluting public transit through the heart of the city, and reversing the decline of certain central areas. CityPass, a specially formed consortium, won a 30-year concession to build and operate Line 1 (the "Red Line"). CityPass consists of financiers Harel (20%), Polar Investments (17.5%) and the Israel Infrastructure Fund (10%), constructors Ashtrom (27.5%) and engineers Alstom (20%), plus service operators – Connex (now Veolia Transport) (5%). Veolia abandoned the project in 2009, selling its 5% stake to Dan Public Transportation Co, purportedly under political pressures.
However, the principal agreement with Dan did not materialize. Veolia entered another principal agreement with Egged. Veolia sold its stake in CityPass and its shares in the contract for the maintenance of the light rail to Egged. The contract stipulates that Veolia would provide consultancy services to Egged until the company acquired the necessary expertise. Dan has taken Veolia to court for exiting the principal agreement.
Construction of Line 1 began in 2002. Dubbed the "Red Line", it initially has 23 stations on a new 1,435 mm gauge twin-track 13.8 km alignment. It runs from Pisgat Ze'ev in the northeast, south along Road 1 (intercity) to Jaffa Road (Rehov Yaffo). From there, it runs along Jaffa Road westward to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, and continues to the southwest, crossing the Chords Bridge along Herzl Boulevard to the Beit HaKerem neighborhood, finishing just beyond Mount Herzl below Bayit VeGan. The first test run for this route was on February 24, 2010. The laying of the railroad tracks was completed on June 15, 2010.
Read more about this topic: Jerusalem Light Rail
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