Lod railway station
Where was the headquarter of Israel Railways located from 2017 to 2018?
Israel Railways Israel Railways Ltd . , dba Israel Railways ( , Rakevet Yisrael ) , is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city , commuter , and freight rail transport in Israel . Israel Railways network consists of of track . All its lines are standard gauge . The network is centered in Israels densely populated coastal plain , from which lines radiate out in many directions . In 2018 , Israel Railways carried 68 million passengers . Unlike road vehicles and city trams , Israeli heavy rail trains run on the left hand tracks , matching neighboring Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries , whose formerly connected rail networks were constructed by British engineers . Until 1980 , the companys head office was located at Haifa Center HaShmona railway station . Tzvi Tzafriri , the general manager of Israel Railways , decided to move the head office to Tel Aviv Savidor Central Railway Station . In 2017 , the companys head office was moved to a new campus built on the grounds of the Lod railway station . Stations . There are 68 stations on the Israel Railways network , with almost all of the stations being accessible to disabled persons , with public announcement and passenger information systems , vending machines and parking . Bicycle policy . Bicycles are permitted on the train in designated coaches . Israel Railways encourage people to use bicycles by building a double-deck parking for bicycles in every train station and by allowing people to take the bike with them on the train to minimize the need for private cars . Smoking . In Israel , smoking is prohibited in public enclosed places or commercial areas . Although smoking in railway stations is allowed at designated zones of the station , the sale of tobacco from automated vending machines is prohibited . Lines . Israel Railways passenger routes are divided into ten operational lines and three lines under construction : Future . The flagship project of Israel Railways is the construction of an improved rail line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem . The line began as an extension of the current railway to Ben Gurion Airport and Modiin , and terminates in a new underground station beside the Jerusalem Central Bus Station . An additional proposal will connect Modiin to Jerusalem if built by connecting to the aforementioned line . The project of electrification , starting with the new Jerusalem-Tel Aviv line is ongoing with plans to eventually electrify all or most of the network . A line from the city of Acre , on the Mediterranean coast , to Karmiel was completed in March 2017 . However , this tract bypasses Acre and does not make a stop there ; it is planned to be extended north to the north-eastern town of Qiryat Shemona , with future stations also planned for Jadeidi-Makr and Majd al-Krum , though there is no timetable for construction . This line will be fully electrified . There were plans to build a high-speed railway to Eilat . In 2019 the project has been indefinitely frozen . In 2011 the reconstruction and expansion of the long , formerly abandoned Jezreel Valley railway line connecting Haifa and Beit Shean ( near the Jordanian border ) started . This was completed in 2016 . There has been talk of further extending the line to Irbid , in Jordan ( to allow a direct freight connection from Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea ) ; however , no decision has yet been made on this matter . Another proposed extension under discussion would connect the reconstructed Jezreel Valley railway at Afula to Tiberias . In May 2017 , an extension of the railway from Arad via Kuseife was approved . The line would connect to the existing Beersheba–Dimona rail line at the proposed new station at Nevatim . Organizational structure . In 2017 , Israel Railways founded a Tunnels Unit that is responsible for the daily operation of railway tunnels , including lighting , air circulation , etc . and managing emergencies . Notable accidents . - On 26 December 1963 two passenger trains on the formerly single-track main line linking Tel Aviv and Haifa collided head-on at Bet Yehoshua just south of Netanya . The northbound train had passed a red signal and its locomotive rode over and crushed the locomotive of the southbound train . None of the coaches was derailed but a coupler broke in the northbound train detaching the rear three coaches . The continuous train brake should have then automatically stopped the detached coaches but it had not been connected properly so they started to roll back southwards . 55 people were injured but only three seriously enough to be detained in hospital . The two head-end crews survived but their locomotives , EMD G12s 105 and 118 , were destroyed . - HaBonim disaster : On 11 June 1985 a train collided with a bus carrying school children , killing 19 children and 3 adults , near moshav HaBonim . - On 21 June 2005 an IC3 train crashed into a freight truck near kibbutz Revadim , killing 8 and injuring 198 . - 8 July 2005 , a train collided with a truck between Kiryat Gat and Ahuzam , resulting the death of the train driver and 38 injuries . On February 2012 a plea bargain had been set for the Revadim crash . - On 12 June 2006 a train crashed into a truck near Beit Yehoshua , killing 5 and injuring from 77 to over 80 . - On 27 December 2009 a train crashed into a car near Kiryat Gat . The driver proceeded without regard to the train checkpoint on the road . The train struck his car and he was killed . - On 5 August 2010 a train crashed into a minibus near Kiryat Gat , killing 7 and injuring 6 . The minibus was hit at 19:05 GMT+3 on Route 353 , apparently as it tried to pass over a level crossing . - On 28 December 2010 a fire started in a train near kibbutz Yakum , probably because of a short circuit , injuring 116 . - On 7 April 2011 two trains collided frontally near Netanya , injuring 59 . - On 4 October 2013 , two men walking along railroad tracks in the Emek Hefer valley industrial zone were killed by a train . - On 18 December 2013 , a Beersheba-bound train collided with a group of camels walking along railroad tracks at the Segev Shalom Junction in the Negev , killing 14 camels . The incident caused massive delays in train traffic . - On 29 December 2013 , an Israel Railways worker was run down and killed by a train near Lod . - On 15 March 2016 , an Israel Railways locomotive crashed into freight wagons , injuring 6 .