The opening of the red line has been postponed to 2023, and the project will drink billions more from the public budget

The announcement of the postponement stems from a report by an external control company hired by the Ministry of Transportation and it joins letters sent to the director general of NATA on allegations of significant delays in the construction of the lines.

Apart from that, NATA is also run without a chairman, which gives us a glimpse into the crooked way that surrounds one of the important projects.

Keenan Cohen

05/04/2022

Tuesday, 05 April 2022, 19:48

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In the video: Netivei Ayalon made a test ride to MTEV - a hybrid between a light rail and a bus (Photo: Netivei Ayalon)

The opening of the red line of the light rail will be postponed again in four to eight months.

The opening date was originally planned for November 2022, and has now been postponed to the second or third quarter of 2023. The company responsible for the project was established in 1997 and was supposed to operate a first line in 2012, but actually started accelerating work only about 20 years after its establishment.

This announcement of the rejection comes from a report by an outside control company hired by the Ministry of Transportation and its name has not been released.

She joins letters sent to Nata's CEO at the end of February with allegations of significant delays in the construction of the light rail lines, as well as the fact that the company, which has huge budgets and huge infrastructure works, is operating without a chairman.

Whether it's just a lack of organization or a timed and orchestrated move in preparation for the entry of the Minister of Transport's candidate for the post of chairman, a move that will prepare the ground for "making order" and other appointments - one thing is clear: this conduct is a glimpse into One of the transportation projects that will affect the lives of Gush Dan residents, from Herzliya in the north, to Rishon Lezion in the south, from Petah Tikva to the beach in Tel Aviv.

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Lack of organization or orchestrated move? (Photo: Reuven Castro)

"Delusional findings," the NAA said regarding conclusions drawn from the control report, which was produced at the invitation of the Ministry of Transportation which in turn refuses to share the findings supporting this conclusion, or even to bring an official reference to them.

In what appears to be an attempt by the control company to take care to cover its own back with the submission of pessimistic forecasts, the answers change all the time.

Sometimes it is the fault of the signaling system, then of the electricity company that is unable to provide the appropriate infrastructure, other times it is a claim regarding the finishing works at the stations and more.

Bottom line, in the field, it’s hard to say that these stories hold water.

Test rides of the light rail have been carried out for months in various sections, the line is "electrified" in full, the signaling system is set up and also includes the underground stations.

"Each time a different rabbit is pulled out," they say in an unofficial response to the report.

As far as Nata and CEO Haim Glick are concerned, the deadline for operating the red line has not changed and is still November 2022. A date for which the operation was postponed from October 2021, a few months after Glick took office.

Referring once to the possibility of delays, Glick said the Carlebach station may open late, due to the station's engineering complexity - both in its 52-meter-deep location that includes the road subsidence, and on the entrance floor, systems floor and red and green line level.

However, even if the opening of this station, one of the 34 stations of the line, is delayed - it does not disrupt the operation of the rest of the line.

Whether the truth is in Nata's position and we do get to board in the red line in about seven months, or whether the same hidden control company report is right in its assessment of the delay in opening the line, or whether this sequence of attacks on Nata's is preparation for a candidate's job The Minister - the bottom line is that until one of the parties proves otherwise, it is not clear who is running the project, who has already drunk and will drink billions from the public budget.

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• Department of Transportation