Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Israel News

Will Israel’s Fast Train Whisk You Right to the Western Wall?

Soon, visitors to one of Judaism’s holiest sites may be able to take a train there.

The Western Wall may be the last stop on the long-awaited high-speed railway line between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announced his vision to extend the the line to the Western Wall via a tunnel that would go around the Old City, according to the Times of Israel.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Katz spoke of his plan at a meeting with Israel Railways and the Jerusalem Transport Master Plan team, as well as representatives from the transportation and finance ministries.

Katz said that the Western Wall line will relieve traffic at the main Jerusalem station by providing a quick way for tourists and worshippers to get to the Western Wall from the Tel Aviv area.

The Western Wall is the site of controversy today as the feminist prayer group Women of the Wall as well as progressive Jewish movements are agitating for the construction of an egalitarian prayer space at the wall. The Israeli government committed to such a space in January 2016, but backed off amid protest from ultra-Orthodox groups.

The massive $1.8 billion train rail is expected to bring travelers from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in less than a half an hour, as opposed to the 78-minute ride on the current line.

Contact Naomi Zeveloff [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.