Heletz railway

Railway line in Israel

The Heletz Railway (Hebrew: מסילת חלץ, Mesilat Heletz) is a 20 km railway in southern Israel which connects the Railway to Beersheba from a point just south of Kiryat Gat to the Lod–Ashkelon railway near moshav Mavki'im. The track passes close to moshav Heletz, from which it derives its name.

History

The railway was constructed by Israel Railways in the early 1980s, to provide a shortcut for freight trains from southern Israel headed for the Port of Ashdod. Previously, such trains had to be routed through the Lod Railway Station in central Israel. The railway was once used for some limited passenger service, though today it is used by passenger trains only on an emergency basis—in instances when the Lod – Kiryat Gat section of the Railway to Beersheba is blocked.

Development

The Ashkelon-Beersheba railway which opened in 2015 to the south of the Heletz railway provides an alternate rail connection between the Railway to Beersheba and the Lod-Ashkelon railway.

Israel Railways has proposed a plan to extend the Heletz railway from Kiryat Gat to Tarqumiyah in the future as a means of providing a rail connection between the Gaza Strip and the southern West Bank.

31°35′52″N 34°39′56″E / 31.597673°N 34.665583°E / 31.597673; 34.665583

Israel Railways

Main line

Coastal railway	Nahariya Acre Kiryat Motzkin Kiryat Haim Hutzot HaMifratz HaMifratz Central Haifa Center HaShmona Haifa Bat Galim Haifa Hof HaCarmel Atlit Binyamina Caesarea-Pardes Hanna Hadera West Netanya Netanya Sapir Beit Yehoshua Herzliya
Ayalon railway	Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Savidor Central Tel Aviv HaShalom Tel Aviv HaHagana
Old Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway	Kfar Chabad Lod Ganei Aviv Lod Ramla
South railway	Mazkeret Batya Kiryat Mal'akhi – Yoav Kiryat Gat Lehavim–Rahat Be'er Sheva North Dimona Har Tzin freight terminal

Branch lines

Acre–Karmiel railway	Ahihud Karmiel
Jezreel Valley railway	Yokneam–Kfar Yehoshua Migdal HaEmek–Kfar Baruch Afula Beit She'an
Sharon railway	Ra'anana West Ra'anana South Hod Hasharon Sokolov Kfar Saba–Nordau
Eastern railway	Rosh HaAyin North
Yarkon railway	Bnei Brak–Ramat HaHayal Petah Tikva-Kiryat Aryeh Petah Tikva Segula
Tel Aviv–Bnei Darom railway	Holon Junction Holon–Wolfson Bat Yam–Yoseftal Bat Yam–Komemiyut Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan Yavne West
New Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway	Ben Gurion Airport Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon
Anava–Modi'in railway	Paatei Modi'in Modi'in Central
Lod–Ashkelon railway	Be'er Ya'akov Rehovot Yavne East Ashdod Ad Halom Ashkelon
Rishon LeZion–Modi'in railway	Rishon LeZion HaRishonim
Ashkelon–Beersheba railway	Sderot Netivot Ofakim
Old Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway	Beit Shemesh ~~Biblical Zoo~~ ~~Jerusalem–Malha~~
South railway	Be'er Sheva Center

Future lines

Eastern railway (under construction)	~~Hadera East~~ ~~Ahituv–Emeq Hefer~~ Tayibe–Qalansuwa Tira–Kochav Ya'ir Kfar Saba North Rosh HaAyin North ~~Rosh HaAyin South~~ El'ad Airport City Lod
Rishon LeZion–Modi'in railway (under construction)	Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan Rishon LeZion Me'uyan Soreq Rishon LeZion HaRishonim Ramla South Paatei Modi'in
Planned	Karmiel-Kiryat Shmona railway
Proposed	Beersheba–Eilat high-speed railway