Israel Railways Ltd. (, Rakevet Yisra'el) is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Israel Railways network consists of of track. All its lines are standard gauge but some were originally built to other gauges and later regauged. Electrification began in 2018 with the new line to Jerusalem and there are plans to electrify the entire network at 25 kV 50 Hz supplied via overhead line. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from which lines radiate out in many directions. In 2025, Israel Railways carried 71.8 million passengers.
Unlike road vehicles and city trams, Israeli heavy rail trains run on the left hand tracks, matching neighboring Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, whose formerly connected rail networks were constructed by British engineers. Those lines that formerly crossed Israel's borders were severed during the 1948 Palestine war and there are no international train lines or services to or from Israel.
Until 1980, the company's head office was located at Haifa Center HaShmona railway station. Tzvi Tzafriri, the general manager of Israel Railways, decided to move the head office to Tel Aviv–Savidor Center railway station. In 2017, the company's head office was moved to a new campus built on the grounds of the Lod railway station.
Stations There are 66 stations on the Israel Railways network, with almost all of the stations being accessible to disabled persons, with public announcement and passenger information systems, vending machines and parking.
Bicycle policy Bicycles are permitted on trains in designated coaches.
Israel Railways encourages people to use bicycles by building a double-deck parking for bicycles in every railway station and by allowing people to take bicycles with them on trains to minimise the need for private cars.
Smoking In Israel, smoking is prohibited in public enclosed places and in commercial areas. Although smoking in railway stations is allowed in designated areas, the sale of tobacco from automated vending machines is prohibited.
List of stations
Station Passengers Municipality District Code Name 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 16 3,076,039 1,241,173 1,915,761 2,529,4742,786,7732,691,2773,208,498 Nahariya Northern 13 Akko (Acre) 2,043,343 732,180 1,067,444 1,471,1171,633,8231,629,7581,833,776 Acre 62 776,477 268,214 495,069 722,153848,136953,1231,021,353 Afula 63 442,417 162,902 295,790 427,176477,532541,605570,641 Beit She'an 61 259,977 85,531 138,467 210,073242,584256,519264,047 Kfar Baruch (Jezreel Valley) 60 339,789 122,210 224,054 327,172346,705385,978432,412 Kfar Yehoshua (Jezreel Valley) 64 276,018 102,243 148,278 199,027217,301188,295253,104 Ahihud (Mateh Asher) 65 1,923,674 675,621 1,119,308 1,468,6951,604,9241,697,8251,853,980 Karmiel 12 2,376,278 844,709 1,317,716 1,766,1572,026,9562,137,6672,372,426 Kiryat Motzkin/Haifa Haifa 11 480,814 171,289 257,428 350,175356,702362,000373,989 Haifa 10 626,017 245,094 419,471 567,226589,480597,921673,231 38 2,984,821 1,113,062 1,642,487 2,774,9233,133,3503,291,2053,562,105 25 2,242,279 773,862 1,066,835 1,662,3461,900,1931,832,4212,025,032 9 2,282,213 874,919 1,480,565 1,906,4042,176,3672,292,0482,515,870 14 4,648,766 1,630,110 2,425,278 3,304,7443,728,9294,021,8304,365,806 8 363,614 143,931 254,038 346,930413,171481,721514,806 Atlit (Hof HaCarmel) 6 3,336,093 1,206,294 1,954,827 2,659,0293,272,1803,751,7823,951,298 Binyamina-Giv'at Ada 7 1,339,506 477,264 749,923 998,4461,169,9031,349,8011,491,010 Pardes Hanna-Karkur/Caesarea (Hof HaCarmel) 5 2,430,825 879,112 1,424,860 1,990,3402,297,2042,709,5872,888,668 Hadera — — — ———— — — — ———— Tayibe/Qalansuwa Central — — — ———— Tira/Kokhav Ya'ir–Tsur Yig'al 4 3,563,026 1,212,729 1,596,659 2,508,7953,008,3013,360,3023,579,278 Netanya 59 1,155,205 407,584 630,966 958,5461,149,9641,318,7501,406,963 3 2,056,937 675,390 1,052,922 1,469,0311,643,0731,853,6441,938,480Beit Yehoshua (Hof HaSharon) 2 3,004,648 1,008,077 1,795,033 3,287,4933,960,3704,695,0544,925,064Herzliya Tel Aviv 66 265,006 58,882 120,302 379,791541,332454,124619,249Ra'anana/Herzliya Central 67 233,114 50,494 68,938 149,799226,814214,320288,556Ra'anana/Kfar Saba 44 926,654 185,951 247,703 513,615774,572714,525961,141 Hod HaSharon/Kfar Saba 15 1,373,963 286,105 398,644 817,3901,054,734876,8561,156,304 27 1,573,945 475,460 519,834 1,111,2241,228,811946,9421,202,873Rosh HaAyin 34 905,440 237,701 221,772 477,782609,412362,148478,312 Petah Tikva 45 1,943,818 528,942 477,782 1,145,3911,372,580733,924931,587 35 1,271,141 320,820 282,841 604,381707,608463,762621,002Bnei Brak Tel Aviv 36 6,499,857 1,883,810 3,132,561 4,931,8045,173,6815,573,2995,951,321Tel Aviv 1 13,426,398 4,980,537 6,476,362 9,384,61210,687,30412,359,61913,400,789Tel Aviv/Ramat Gan 23 15,352,944 5,635,092 8,425,111 13,220,10215,309,11616,642,89817,209,007 Tel Aviv 39 6,596,080 2,516,573 3,659,147 5,309,2155,920,7335,147,0855,382,799 50 629,715 182,892 162,413 376,879381,951267,747310,567 Holon/Tel Aviv 51 823,403 281,062 256,297 615,392672,254591,007597,282 52 1,810,003 584,714 685,830 1,199,0821,364,5021,323,2361,338,495 Holon/Bat Yam 53 934,648 288,396 274,700 611,642669,802560,800637,255 40 4,383,073 788,867 881,276 2,948,4034,339,1023,737,9674,700,437Ben Gurion Airport (unincorporated area) Central 22 416,411 163,848 267,515 393,541454,156561,060608,857Kfar Chabad (Sdot Dan) 46 525,198 215,892 305,990 386,895410,009475,926474,302 Lod 20 2,489,889 965,369 1,283,229 1,735,2822,076,2072,278,6052,390,666 26 861,166 336,700 452,460 668,712708,128734,069772,316Ramla 48 391,832 120,963 225,461 515,597667,989860,0511,020,603 Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut 49 1,711,198 594,652 957,050 1,762,0502,169,0932,326,6572,458,515 18 930,014 316,171 482,584 629,960773,853842,785884,357Beit Shemesh Jerusalem 69 2,674,840 1,651,659 3,598,443 6,536,3937,916,2558,453,5939,493,864 Jerusalem 17 (closed from March 2020) 26,445 1,403 — ———— 41 (closed from March 2020) 115,118 17,744 — ———— 54 2,217,849 596,198 670,612 1,296,2741,438,9041,522,4271,761,595 Rishon LeZion Central 31 360,136 111,024 137,386 36,809134,771164,162171,138 28 777,819 294,761 444,211 569,267779,887930,267971,876Be'er Ya'akov 29 3,855,766 1,395,040 1,654,749 2,199,9382,606,1042,779,9193,022,117Rehovot 55 1,465,638 483,214 647,974 1,188,4471,264,7941,295,8311,481,547 Yavne 30 470,468 154,927 169,294 284,367283,932355,895409,680 70 243,989 177,890 315,499 457,064534,723652,019675,757Mazkeret Batya 32 3,765,864 1,273,176 1,590,702 2,727,8422,785,2032,868,8633,400,800Ashdod Southern 42 3,005,131 1,026,198 1,220,611 2,290,6142,484,8572,846,2063,200,125Ashkelon 56 1,025,670 359,793 398,278 635,242448,712123,524568,261Sderot 57 970,450 382,667 480,892 710,581524,149303,495608,131Netivot 58 864,528 331,842 415,333 575,277394,402245,086548,053Ofakim 68 360,569 135,497 233,242 320,860374,038458,468446,440Kfar Menahem (Yoav) 19 1,175,058 479,342 714,533 1,018,6441,091,1381,197,6261,195,184Kiryat Gat 47 438,867 158,862 246,747 316,435392,104433,534463,511Lehavim/Rahat 21 2,308,782 890,926 1,244,946 1,822,1701,789,1262,041,9402,068,277 Beersheba 37 3,562,792 1,331,920 2,030,811 2,650,5162,472,4862,628,1722,764,454 43 14,745 5,278 7,969 6,39712,27718,17823,269Dimona
Lines
Israel Railways currently operates 15 passenger service lines.Stations and lines. Israel Railways official website. Accessed 5 June 2021. These can be broadly subdivided into inter-city lines, which connect two or more of Israel's major metropolitan centres (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Beersheba), usually skipping some of the intermediate stations, and commuter lines, centered on one metropolitan area and serving all stations on the line. However, Israel Railways no longer officially uses this classification.
Some services were partially or fully suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and electrification works.
Inter-city lines CorridorServiceTerminus (start)Intermediate stopsTerminus (end)Infrastructure Haifa–Tel Aviv–Beersheba Nahariya–Beersheba(partially commuter) ‡ Nahariya Be'er Sheva–Center Coastal railwayAyalon railwayJaffa–Jerusalem railwaySouth railway Karmiel–Beersheba ‡ Karmiel Karmiel–Acre railwayCoastal railwayAyalon railwayJaffa–Jerusalem railwaySouth railway Haifa–Tel Aviv Nahariya–Modi'in(partially commuter) ‡ Coastal railwayAyalon railwayTel Aviv–Jerusalem railwayAnava–Modi'in railway Nahariya–Ben Gurion Airport(night train) Nahariya Coastal railwayAyalon railwayTel Aviv–Jerusalem railway Hadera-Tel Aviv–Jerusalem Hadera–Jerusalem † Hadera–West Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon Coastal railwayAyalon railwayTel Aviv–Jerusalem railway Tel Aviv–Jerusalem Tel Aviv–Jerusalem(night train) † Tel Aviv–Savidor Center Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon(closed Wednesdays for maintenance) Ayalon railwayTel Aviv–Jerusalem railway Tel Aviv–Beersheba Tel Aviv–Beersheba(night train, suspended) ‡ Tel Aviv–Savidor Center Be'er Sheva–Center Ayalon railwayTel Aviv–Jerusalem railwayJaffa–Jerusalem railwaySouth railwayHadera - Rosh HaAyinHadera East - Rosh HaAyin NorthHadera–EastShomron–Tayyiba Tira–Kokhav Ya'irRosh HaAyin–NorthEastern Railway
Commuter lines
Metropolitan coreServiceTerminus (start)Intermediate stopsTerminus (end)Infrastructure Haifa Nahariya–Binyamina(inter-city connection) Nahariya Binyaminainter-city to Modi'in → Coastal railway Karmiel–Haifa Karmiel Haifa–Hof HaCarmel Karmiel–Acre railwayCoastal railway Beit She'an–Atlit Beit She'an Atlit Jezreel Valley railwayCoastal railway Tel Aviv Binyamina–Ashkelon(commuter connection) † Binyamina Ashkeloncommuter to Beersheba → Coastal railwayAyalon railwayJaffa–Jerusalem railwayLod–Ashkelon railway Herzliya–Ashkelon † Herzliya Ashkelon Sharon railwayEastern railwayYarkon railwayAyalon railwayTel Aviv–Bnei Darom railwayLod–Ashkelon railway Netanya–Beit Shemesh ‡ Netanya Beit Shemesh Coastal railwayAyalon railwayJaffa–Jerusalem railway Netanya–Rehovot † Netanya Rehovot Coastal railwayAyalon railwayJaffa–Jerusalem railway Tel Aviv–Modi'in(inter-city connection) Tel Aviv–University← inter-city to Nahariya Modi'in–Center Ayalon railwayTel Aviv–Jerusalem railwayAnava–Modi'in railway Lod–Rishon LeZion Lod–Rishon LeZion Lod– Rishon LeZion–HaRishonim Lod–Ashkelon railway Jerusalem Beit Shemesh–Jerusalem (suspended) Beit Shemesh Biblical Zoo Jerusalem–Malha Jaffa–Jerusalem railway Modi'in–Jerusalem † Modi'in–Center Paatei Modi'in Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railwayAnava–Modi'in railway Beersheba Lod–Beersheba(inter-city connection) ‡ Lod← inter-city to Nahariya Be'er Sheva–Center Jaffa–Jerusalem railwaySouth railway Ashkelon–Beersheba(commuter connection) ‡ Ashkelon← commuter to Binyamina Ashkelon–Beersheba railway Ashkelon–Beersheba ‡ Ashkelon Ashkelon–Beersheba railway Beersheba–Dimona Be'er Sheva–North– Dimona Beersheba–Dimona railway † Fully electrified line ‡ Line electrification in progress
Future
Electrification Since the opening of the fully-electrified Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion Airport–Jerusalem railway line in 2018, work has been underway to electrify the passenger rail network with overhead 25 kV 50 Hz AC electrification. In 2024, Israel Railways estimated that work was 72% complete, with full electrification officially scheduled for July 2027.
Network expansion Due to increasing demand, Israel Railways is pursuing expansion to its infrastructure network.
The long Eastern Railway, which will connect Hadera to Kfar Saba and then to Lod, running parallel to the Coastal Railway, began construction in 2019 and is scheduled to open in 2027, with partial opening of the line from Hadera–East to Rosh HaAyin–North occurring at the end of June 2026. This line follows the disused route of the Ottoman-period Tulkarm–Lydda railroad, which was abandoned in 1968, and will allow freight and passenger trains to bypass the congested Hadera–Herzliya corridor.