Tel Aviv Light Rail Project Halted After Budget Overrun

Tel Aviv Light Railway System faces a major setback following a report by project auditing company Agis.

The launch of the light railway, which has been planned for many years, could be delayed for as long as two years, after the government company responsible for the project was found to have already overspent the NIS 15 billion budget by NIS 5 billion.

Plans for a mass transit system for Tel Aviv were first mooted as long ago as 1892, and there have been several abortive plans to introduce a network linking to the Jaffa to Jerusalem main line railway, but economic and political problems have always got in the way.

Excavation for the first phase of the light rail network, the 22 km (14 mile) Red Line commenced in 2009, but the international consortium MTS who held the contract to develop the line were dogged by financial difficulties.

In 2010, the project was nationalised and a government agency, the NRA, given the responsibility of developing the rapid transit system for the city.

It had been hoped the system would be operational in 2016, but it now looks as though that will be delayed by at least two years.