Tel Aviv HaShalom Station to Replace Escalators After Eight Months of Shutdown

After being completely out of service for eight months, new escalators will be installed at Tel Aviv HaShalom railway station, Israel's busiest station. The installation work will begin on Tuesday at 8:00 PM and continue until Saturday night. During this period, the northern passenger hall near the Azrieli Mall and the access to Platform 1 from there will be closed. Passengers traveling northbound will need to use the southern passenger hall across the road to access trains.

Israel Railways clarified that train services to the north will continue uninterrupted, but access changes will require passengers to adjust their routes within the station. After the physical installation, the escalators must undergo safety inspections and receive official licensing before being operational again. The escalators were first shut down earlier this year due to repeated malfunctions, and in February 2026 they were completely taken out of service, severely impacting service quality at the station, which handles 50,000 to 60,000 passengers daily and about 17.2 million annually.

The prolonged delay in replacing the escalators was mainly due to the manufacturing and import process. The escalators are custom-made abroad to fit the station's specific engineering requirements and passenger loads, which extended the timeline from design to delivery. In the meantime, the remaining few escalators in the southern hall have been overwhelmed, causing long queues and accessibility challenges for disabled passengers, parents with strollers, and the elderly, who had to rely heavily on limited elevators.

With the arrival of the new escalators, the station will undergo a broader upgrade project. Access to Platforms 2 and 3 will continue as usual from both passenger halls for now, but further works are expected and will be announced later.