On video: test ride of the light rail on the Tel Aviv - Bat Yam line (still photography: Reuven Castro, video photography: Yotam Ronen)
The light rail in Gush Dan continues to be delayed, and it will cost us billions, beyond the hours wasted on the roads - according to the State Comptroller's report published today (Wednesday).
A one-year delay in the opening of the green and purple lines will cost the state NIS 1.14 billion, when traffic congestion in Tel Aviv, without a light rail alternative, costs a passenger 98 hours a year in the city, compared to 41 hours in Madrid and Amsterdam and 69 hours in Berlin, which all have a network of light rail and subways .
The State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman, who inspected the three light rail lines in Gush Dan - the red, green and purple, states that not only has the opening of the red line from Petah Tikva to Bat Yam been postponed six times, from 2017 in the original until November of this year (not including another postponement after the report was signed , for March 2023), but the opening of the purple line from Yehud and Givat Shmuel to Tel Aviv was also postponed from 2025 to 2026, and the opening of the green line from Rishon Lezion to Herzliya was postponed from 2025 to 2027. The opening of the green line may be postponed for another year due to the postponement of the evacuation of Kfar Shalem In about a year and a half, during Miri Regev's tenure as Minister of Transportation, which the auditor as usual chooses not to name.
Moreover, according to the auditor, the cost of the three lines skyrocketed during the works, and they are expensive and their construction is slow compared to parallel projects abroad.
At the time the government approved the red line in 2010, there was talk of a cost of 10.7 billion shekels, which has increased to 18.7 billion now, and is expected to increase further due to the additional delay.
The red line of the light rail, a test drive on Sderot Jerusalem, Jaffa (photo: Walla! system, NTA)
The estimated cost of the purple line is about 11.2 billion shekels (about 0.41 billion shekels per km), a figure about 133.5% higher than the maximum and minimum values respectively according to similar projects in other countries according to a study by the World Bank.
The estimated cost of the Green Line is about NIS 18.3 billion (about NIS 0.47 billion per km), about 5.5% lower and about 99.4% higher than the maximum and minimum values respectively according to similar projects in other countries.
The estimated cost of the red line, about NIS 0.78 billion per km, is in the cost range of similar projects in other countries, and was about 23.7% lower and about 113.5% higher than the maximum and minimum values, respectively, according to similar projects in other countries.
All this while the red and green lines are the most expensive civil projects currently being carried out by the state, more than the construction of the new high-speed train line from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, which cost about 17 billion shekels, and the eastern track of the train, which cost about 12 billion shekels.
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The light rail in Jerusalem (photo: official website, Ariel Zandberg)
The audit revealed that the construction time for the Purple Line line is expected to be significantly longer than the construction time of most similar lines abroad: about 3.7 months per km on the Purple Line in Israel, a total of eight years, compared to about two and a half months per km on average in other countries ( about
48
% more than the average for lines in other countries)
. The Red Line in the area of Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak do not benefit from a fund similar to the one established by the Municipality of Tel Aviv in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance worth ten million shekels, and cannot receive assistance to which businesses in Tel Aviv are entitled, even though part of the fund's budget is a state budget. Failures were also found in the shielding of apartments and businesses that are expected be harmed by the noise of the light rail operation.
The auditor points out that the state does not have a framework agreement with NTA at all, which suffers because of its absence from difficulties in working with other government bodies, such as the electricity company, which are one of the reasons for the delays in the project.
Various.
In Jerusalem: overcrowding in cars during rush hours
In a follow-up report to a previous audit he performed for the light rail project in Jerusalem, auditor Engelman points out the problem of overcrowding in cars during rush hours, which has not been resolved.
According to calculations made by the state comptroller's office, in most measurements the maximum number of passengers on the light rail in Jerusalem is over 356 passengers, compared to a limit of 320 passengers set in the terms of the new concession agreement with the Shapir company, which began two years ago.
The follow-up audit that the concessionaire has submitted a plan for managing the density level threshold, which is under review.
According to the auditor, the light rail in Jerusalem in 2021 transported about 37 million passengers, 156 thousand people per day, not far from the data of Israel Railways on all its lines throughout the country.
The amount of fines imposed on the franchisee between April and September 2021 was NIS 2.4 million, more than double what was imposed on the previous franchisee between 2018 and April 2021.
NTA: Comply with an international comparative standard
NTA said in response to the report that "the rate of construction, and the costs of the red line meet an international comparative standard.
The auditor points out that the increase in the budget is derived from the under budgeting of the project.
Despite the claim of multiple postponements on the red line, the absolute majority of the postponements happened until 2013 - even before the start of the works.
The auditor accepted the NTA's recommendation, and sees great importance in establishing an administration and coordinating body between the NTA and the many authorities that sometimes cause delays, the electric company, infrastructure companies, local authorities and more.
NTA calls for the implementation of this recommendation as a matter of urgency, a recommendation that has critical operational implications on the schedules in the various projects."
Ministry of Transport: working to reduce the difficulties
The Ministry of Transportation stated in response that "The Red Line is a complex national infrastructure project, established in the dense urban area with a large number of local authorities and the construction of underground stations. The Ministry works to reduce the difficulties experienced by the residents of the metropolis and accelerates the completion of the project. State representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Finance drew lessons from the construction stages and the operation of the red line in the construction of the following lines and other projects."
According to the Ministry of Transportation, the Red Line has undergone many changes since it was announced, which caused its establishment to be delayed, and that "in the past year, the Ministry of Transportation established the Division for Coordination of Infrastructures, the Ministry acknowledges the difficulties of coordinating NTA with the Electric Company and the telecommunications companies and formulates a new agreement between the entities to promote the issue .
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These days the Ministry of Transportation is formulating a new agreement between the entities, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Energy, with the aim of promoting the issue."
The ministry also notes that "the municipality of Ramat Gan is piling up difficulties for the implementation of the Red Line and the Purple Line project, due to attempts to make changes in the planning process, which were not approved or other legal procedures. The ministry has held dozens of discussions with the mayor and representatives of the municipality in order to resolve the disputes, but these have arisen In vain, while the municipality continues to conduct legal proceedings to stop the works. An agreement with the municipality was supposed to be signed in 2009, but was canceled at the last minute by the municipality, which rejected attempts to sign a new agreement."
Regarding the audit of the Jerusalem light rail, the Ministry of Transportation stated that it "welcomes the follow-up audit carried out by the Office of the State Comptroller, which indicates the improvement of the service to passengers and passengers of the light rail in Jerusalem. Among other things, the frequency of the trip was increased, the duration of the trip was shortened, and advanced payment technologies were implemented. The high demand for the train Hela supports the ministry's policy, which prioritizes public transportation in general and mass transit systems in particular. Work to expand the red line and add new carriages is nearing completion, at the same time as the establishment of the green and blue lines in the capital - which together will be an efficient, fast and green network for the residents of the capital and its visitors."
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