Jerusalem Light Rail Reaches Teddy Stadium But Won't Stop After Major Games

Jerusalem's new light rail line now includes a station near Teddy Stadium, the country's largest active stadium with over 30,000 seats. However, after large-scale games, the light rail will not stop at this station for 30 minutes, forcing fans to walk approximately 800 meters to the next station, Gonenim. This decision has sparked anger among Beitar Jerusalem supporters, who question the logic of building a station that is inaccessible when most needed.

The policy was developed by Jerusalem Municipality and the Israel Police to prevent bottlenecks caused by tens of thousands of fans exiting simultaneously. Multiple light rail vehicles will wait in a tunnel between the stadium and Gonenim stations and depart in quick succession using a "fill and go" system to efficiently manage crowd flow.

A municipal official involved in the decision explained to N12 that the approach is based on studied models from major European stadiums such as Allianz Arena, San Siro, and others. He emphasized that the walking distance from the stadium exit to the next station is only a few minutes and that attempting to load large crowds directly at the stadium station is ineffective and impractical.

Beitar Jerusalem has about 20,000 season ticket holders, and most games are sold out, underscoring the challenge of managing large crowds. Signage and stewards will guide fans to the alternative station after events. The municipality maintains that this structured plan significantly improves congestion management after games.