Purple Line (Tel Aviv Light Rail)

Purple Line
Purple Line bridge under construction near Tel Aviv HaHagana
Overview
StatusUnder construction
OwnerNTA
LocaleTel Aviv, Giv'atayim, Ramat Gan, Kiryat Ono, Giv'at Shmuel, Or Yehuda, Yehud
Termini
Stations43[1]
Websitewww.nta.co.il
Service
TypeLight rail interchange Light rail
SystemTel Aviv Light Rail Tel Aviv Light Rail
Rolling stockCAF Urbos LRV[2]
Daily ridership256,000 (projected)[3]
History
Opened2027 (estimated)[4]
Technical
Line length27 km (17 mi)[1]
Route map

Legend
 HaTayyasim
Altalef
Weizmann
Yehud Center
Yehud West
Savyonim
Monosson
Savyon Junction
Neve Savyon
Yig'al Alon
Kazaz
Ramat Pinkas
Mesubbim
Ef'al South
Sheba
Bar-Ilan East
Bar-Ilan West
Gane Ilan
Goren
Ef'al North
Alluf Sade
HaYarden
Razi'el
Korazin
HaMa'avak
Wolfson Park
Moshe Dayan
Giv'ati
HaEtsel
HaHagana Tel Aviv HaHagana railway station
Nave Sha'anan
Har Tsiyon (Green Line)
Ha'Aliya
Yehuda HaLevi (Red Line)
Montefiore
HaCarmel
Mugrabi
Bograshov
Gordon
Dizengoff
Ibn Gabirol (Green Line)
Ichilov
Arlosoroff Terminal Tel Aviv Savidor Central railway station (Red Line)
This diagram:

The Purple Line is a light rail transit (LRT) line under construction in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in Israel. The line will operate as part of the planned Tel Aviv metropolitan area mass transit system and is expected to be the second line to open. The line will connect the city centre of Tel Aviv with its eastern suburbs of Yehud and Giv'at Shmuel.

The Purple Line is planned to be 27 km (17 mi) long and will serve 43 stations, all at street level.[1] Construction started in 2018 and the line is expected to open in 2027[4] at an estimated cost of NIS 11 billion.[5]

Planning

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Main article: Tel Aviv Light Rail

In 2007, NTA submitted for government approval a comprehensive plan for a mass transit system in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, which included light rail and bus rapid transit lines. The plan included an LRT line which was to loop around central Tel Aviv before turning east and branching out to Petah Tikva and Yehud.[6] By 2008, that line was colour-coded purple and the Israeli government allocated NIS 55 million for its planning.[7]

At the eastern end of the line, a northern branch was initially planned to continue from Giv'at Shmuel into Petah Tikva, crossing the city from southwest to northeast and ending at Petah Tikva Segula railway station. However, this proposal was met with opposition from Petah Tikva municipality and residents starting in 2010,[8] and by 2015 the Petah Tikva section of the line was dropped.[9] Another rejected proposal called to extend the southern branch of the line from Tayasim Junction eastwards to the town of Shoham.[10]

In December 2011, the Israeli government selected the Purple Line as one of the lines to be planned by NTA. In August 2016, the government approved the construction and operation of the line, as a public-private partnership (PPP), at a then-estimated cost of NIS 8.6 billion.[11] The western section of the route was approved in January 2017.[12]

Construction

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In May 2017, NTA published tenders for project management and detailed planning of the line.[13] Demolitions of buildings on the route in the Kfar Shalem neighbourhood of Tel Aviv began in July 2018,[14] and preparatory construction works on the line commenced in December 2018.[15]

Tenders for rolling stock, tracks, electrification, signalling and maintenance were published in July 2018,[16] and by September 2020 five international consortia submitted their bids.[5] The contract was awarded in January 2022, to a Spanish-Israeli consortium consisting of Grupo CAF and Shapir. The contract included maintenance of the line for 25 years, as well as delivery of 98 low-floor five-section units of CAF Urbos LRV to serve as rolling stock.[2]

In the leadup to the announcement of the winning bid for the line's construction, maintenance and rolling stock, some sources reported that the US administration is pressuring for bids involving Chinese companies to not be selected for the project, in the context of the ongoing China–US trade war.[17][18][19] After the winning bid was announced, losing Chinese bidder CRCC appealed the decision, arguing that its bid had been unlawfully disqualified.[20] NTA argued in response that CRCC's bid was rejected due to its abnormally low price quote.[18] In September 2022, the Tel Aviv District Court ruled in NTA's favour, concluding that CRCC presented no evidence to support its claim, and noting that Chinese companies continue to win tenders in infrastructure projects across Israel.[21]

The tender for operation of the line was issued in May 2023.[4]

In July 2023, financing for the line was secured, allowing for construction to begin in earnest.[3] Construction is ongoing and is now expected to be completed in 2027, two years after the original deadline.[4]

Route

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The Purple Line will follow a semi-circular route in central Tel Aviv, between Tel Aviv–Savidor Central railway station (Arlozorov Terminal) in the north and Tel Aviv–HaHagana railway station in the south, looping westwards through the heart of the city. On the way it will pass through Arlozorov, Ben Yehuda, Allenby, Aliya and Levinsky streets. In this section it will interchange with the Red Line and the Green Line of the Tel Aviv Light Rail twice each: with the Red Line, in Arlozorov Terminal in the north and Yehuda HaLevi in the south; and with the Green Line, in Ibn Gabirol in the north and Har Tsiyon in the south.

From Tel Aviv HaHagana the line will continue eastwards along HaHagana Street and HaShalom Road, skirting Giv'atayim and passing through Ramat Gan by way of Aluf Sadeh and Sheba roads before reaching Sheba Medical Center. Here the line will split into two branches:

The Purple Line will be the only Tel Aviv LRT line to travel at street level in central Tel Aviv, and the only one to be aboveground in its entirety.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Purple Line". NTA official website.
  2. ^ a b Richard Clinnick (31 January 2022). "Tel Aviv Purple Line light rail contract awarded". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b Sharon Wrobel (5 July 2023). "HSBC and Leumi to provide $1.1 billion in financing for Tel Aviv purple light rail". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "NTA publishes tender to operate Green and Purple Lines". Globes. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Huge Tel Aviv light rail tender attracts 5 bids". Globes. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  6. ^ "עד 2020 תגיע לגלילות" (in Hebrew). Haaretz. 11 January 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  7. ^ "הרכבת הקלה: מופז רוצה את הקו הסגול" (in Hebrew). Ynet. 18 November 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  8. ^ מלחמת העצמאות של עיריית פתח תקווה. Archived 12 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine. MyNet Petah Tikva (in Hebrew). 4 March 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  9. ^ "הקו הסגול של הרכבת הקלה בגוש דן: אלה הערים שיחוברו" (in Hebrew). Globes. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  10. ^ תיבחן אפשרות להביא את הרכבת הקלה לשוהם. Shoham Plus (in Hebrew). 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  11. ^ Israel State Comptroller Yearly Report 68B, Chapter 3: Government Corporations (in Hebrew), 14 March 2018.
  12. ^ "הרכבת הקלה: אושרו 3 מקטעים נוספים בקו הסגול והירוק" (in Hebrew). Globes. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Tel Aviv seeks Green and Purple line contractors". International Railway Journal. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  14. ^ "לטובת הרכבת הקלה: נהרס מבנה בכפר שלם" (in Hebrew). Ynet. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  15. ^ "העבודות על הקו הסגול של הרכבת הקלה יחלו הערב: כך ייראה המסלול" (in Hebrew). Ynet. 25 December 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Tel Aviv begins tendering for LRT Purple and Green lines". International Railway Journal. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  17. ^ Yuval Sadeh (20 June 2021). "U.S. officials pressure Israel on Chinese involvement in light-rail project". CTech. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  18. ^ a b Danny Zaken (7 February 2022). "Chinese companies lose tenders for Israeli light rail". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  19. ^ Lahav Harkov (31 January 2022). "Chinese companies lose Tel Aviv light rail tender". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  20. ^ Yonah Jeremy Bob (17 April 2022). "China sues Israeli government for denying light rail tender 'under US pressure'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  21. ^ Yuval Sadeh (7 September 2022). "מכרז הרכבת הקלה: בית המשפט דחה את עתירת שיכון ובינוי והחברות הסיניות נגד פסילתן" (in Hebrew). Calcalist. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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