A new type of terrorism?
Increase in cases of laying stones on railway tracks in the Negev
In the shadow of the problem of non-government and the rising violence in the Negev, a new and disturbing phenomenon has begun, in which unknown individuals place stones on the railway tracks, thus disrupting its activities.
Meanwhile, Israel Railways has filed a complaint with the police about the cases, and at the same time it is supervising the problem areas, but the fear is that the situation will only get worse.
Keinan Cohen Weiner will defend
19/05/2022
Thursday, 19 May 2022, 18:31 Updated: Monday, 23 May 2022, 19:38
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In the video: Load density and delays due to disruptions at Tel Aviv train stations, February 10, 2022 (Yifat Rosenberg)
The state's attempts to restore power throughout the Negev are facing a new test in a new arena - the railway tracks.
According to officials at Israel Railways, the plantations carried out by the JNF in the Negev and the protests that followed among the Bedouin population led to several incidents of laying stones on the train tracks, which stopped train traffic and disrupted the travel of many passengers
. The last of them occurred this week. The train explains that at least in recent events, laying the stones on the track did not pose a risk to the train in terms of deviating from the track, but the stones could certainly have caused damage to the train. , Affect the whole schedule of the train and disrupt its operation.
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To the full article
Laying the stones on the tracks could damage the train and delay its operation (Photo: Official website, police spokeswoman)
Israel Railways filed a complaint with the police and increased the patrols of the security teams in the area.
At least according to what the train people were told, the police have previously arrested suspects who laid stones, and indictments have also been filed against them.
In addition to working with the police, the train also uses technological means such as skimmers and motion-activated cameras.
However these measures do not cover the whole area, and provide information only and not prevention of the laying of the stones.
According to the same sources, they expect the police to provide a solution to the phenomenon on the intelligence and practical level.
The big question that hovers over recent events is whether these are just first indications of a phenomenon that will expand and even worsen later in the level of daring and capabilities, or alternatively initial attempts to study the system's response to these actions before "escalation".
Interruptions can cause delays on train lines.
Beer Sheva Central Station (Photo: Reuven Castro)
"In an emergency, the locomotive driver, unlike the driver in the car, cannot deviate from his lane," Avi Sheetrit, the locomotive driver, described the moments inside the cab with the identification of an obstacle on the tracks.
"The only solution available to him is emergency braking, which in the case of a train can be as long as 700 meters. It is a complex feeling of approaching an obstacle without the ability to evade it."
My father is also familiar with the issue in the cap of a locomotive driver who was involved in injury incidents, and also as the person currently responsible for this confrontation in terms of safety and security as head of the Railway Safety Division.
"The driver, at any speed he travels, whether it is 80 km / h on a freight train or 160 km / h on a passenger train sees the object and can prepare to hit it. If it is something small he knows nothing will happen, but if it is a large object, the issue is defined As a 'track disruption'. The potential for damage is defined according to the size of the object. The driver has discretion whether to continue driving, but the problem is mainly at night, when the driver reports that he has hit something,
Even if some people see the laying of stones on the track recently in the southern region as a prank, it could have consequences.
It is not always the size of the object that determines the damage, since even in the case of a pile of small stones, a stone that splashes from the impact can damage the propulsion components of the train and tear an air pipe.
That is, even when there is no danger of the train slipping off the tracks and overturning it, service damage may be caused.
The train recognizes and is aware that for some of the Bedouin residents in the south, it is perceived as a symbol of the establishment and as such it is sometimes used as a channel for frustration.
These are not speculations, but things that came up in the past in a discourse that took place on the train with leaders in the Bedouin sector in the south.
As far as the train is concerned, every such incident is reported, distributed and documented for the purpose of investigation.
If necessary and possible, actions such as patrols, ambushes and the placement of technological means are carried out according to the same indications of activity in order to disrupt, prevent or delay as much as possible those who are trying to damage the infrastructure.
Such an incident occurred three years ago in the Nabataean area, so a resident of the area was caught after being caught on control cameras setting up a wave of stones on the track.
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