Fancy travelling by train around Israel? Here’s all you need to know about the trains in Israel
Trains in Israel – the lowdown
The trains in Israel are fast, modern and easy-to-use. Israel Railways, the national train operator, offers lots of option for getting around, particularly on the Coastal Plain. The trains are clean, modern and air-conditioned, making them the perfect way to travel around this fascinating country.
Airport trains
Ben Gurion Airport Train Station is located beneath the taxi station as you arrive at the airport. The station is on the line between Modiin and Nahariya. This means that it is easy to get trains from Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Netanya, and Haifa. These trains run twice an hour.
Tel Aviv Trains
There are four train stations in Tel Aviv spanning the city from North to South. They are all located on the eastern edge of the city, following the Ayalon Highway. The main train station in Tel Aviv is Tel Aviv Center. Other train stations in Tel Aviv include Tel Aviv University which serves the northern neighbourhood of Ramat Aviv and the University. Tel Aviv HaShalom is located next to the Azrieli Center, one of the city’s largest malls, and is within walking distance of The White City and Rothschild Boulevard. Tel Aviv HaHagana which is convenient for South Tel Aviv.
Fast train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
Israel is very proud of its recently built high-speed rail line between Tel Aviv and Israel and rightly so. The The $2-billion, 35-mile link required construction of eight bridges and five tunnels. Finished in 2018, the rail journey between the two cities now takes 40 minutes. This is half the time of a travelling by bus or car.
The pandemic halted work on an 8-mile extension to the city of Herzliya north of Tel Aviv, but this is now expected to be completed by this September. From Autumn onwards, exploratory drilling will begin on a controversial planned line extension from Ben Gurion airport to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Trains Around Israel
As well as the lines that run North to South, there are also railway lines to Beer Sheva in the Negev Desert, Ashkelon, and Nahariya.
For further information on train travel in Israel, see Israel Railways website which provides timetable, route and ticket information.