The cabinet will approve, at its next meeting, a proposal of Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport officials to give the Ministry of Transport responsibility for the Red Line of the Tel Aviv light railway, and to finance the project from the state budget. Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd. (NTA) will implement the project.
The decision follows the cancellation of Metro Transport Solutions' (MTS) franchise in August. The ministry has set a deadline of 2017 for the Red Line to begin operations.
The cabinet will also increase the Red Line's budget from NIS 8.4 billion (the amount of the state's participation in the cancelled BOT project) to NIS 10.7 billion.
The Red Line is intended to carry 120 million passengers a year. Mass transit use is expected to increase to 430 million passengers a year by 2030. Four of the seven lines planned will be bus rapid transit (BRT) routes, and three lines will be light rail lines: the Red, Green, and Purple.
The work plan that will be approved on Sunday calls for publication of the first tenders by the end of the year for boxes (the framework for the construction of ten underground train stations). IConstruction of the boxes will be during 2011.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 21, 2010
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