Israel Railways to Open Eastern Line, Adding New Stations and Weekend Service

After years of infrastructure work, Israel will inaugurate the Eastern Line on Sunday, June 28, in a partial, phased opening. The new rail corridor is intended to ease heavy congestion on the coastal tracks, and the Transportation Ministry says it will also restore fuller Friday and Saturday night service across many stations.

Three new stations will open in the northern part of the project: Hadera East, Samaria-Taybeh, and Tira-Kochav Yair. They will connect through the upgraded Ra'anana North station, but travel to central Israel will not yet be direct. Passengers will need to change trains there, with the ministry saying the average wait for the connection will be about seven minutes during most of the day.

At this stage, the line will run only Sunday through Thursday, from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., with two trains per hour in each direction. The ministry estimates travel times to Tel Aviv at about 60 minutes from Hadera East, 46 minutes from Samaria-Taybeh, and 39 minutes from Tira-Kochav Yair. The line was built over 64 kilometers alongside Route 6, and future work on engineering and electrification is expected to extend it to Elad, Shoham-Te'ufa, and Lod, enabling continuous southbound service without transfers.

Officials say the new route will allow north-south movement without passing through the congested Tel Aviv bottleneck. The ministry estimates the project will increase the rail network’s service supply by about 30%. In parallel, Friday service will be extended to around 4:00 p.m. and Saturday night trains will run until about 1:00 a.m. at dozens of stations, including Nahariya, Carmiel, Netanya, Beit Shemesh, and Be'er Sheva. New parking spaces for cars and bicycles have been added at the new stations, and new bus lines will also serve nearby communities. The ministry said the project responds to demand that hit a record 72 million passengers in 2025.