Beersheba, the gateway to the Negev, is set to get its own light rail, the Planning Administration announced on Monday, although it will be at least a decade until residents of the city will get to enjoy it.
The Committee for National Infrastructures in the Administration approved a decision to advance the light rail plan on Monday.
The planned line will travel between the Israel Railways stations and the central bus station in Beersheba and along Highway 60 to the new Kiryat Hamodi'in military intelligence base being built in Likit, east of Beersheba. The light rail line will continue to Meitar and end near the Meitar Crossing along the Green Line of the West Bank.
The line will also service Soroka Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University.
The 25 km line is intended to be a central transportation solution for IDF soldiers who will need to travel to and from the new intelligence base.
A location for the depot for the light rail has not been decided on yet and will be chosen after an environmental impact review is conducted.
The planning of the light rail is being handled by Netivei Israel – National Transport Infrastructure Company.
Shira Brand, the chairperson of the committee, stated that "The plan is an important landmark in expediting the IDF's transition to the Negev, the development of the Negev, and service for the city of Beersheba. The plan will advance the southern metropolis to a light rail transportation service, as has already been promoted in the other three metropolitan areas."
Beersheba Mayor Ruvik Danilovich welcomed the announcement, calling it "very important news for the future of transportation in Beersheba and the Negev."
"The railway will be an engine of economic growth for Beersheba and the entire region that will serve the civilian settlements and the IDF bases."
While the new central IDF intelligence base is set to begin operations in 2028, the light rail will only be ready at earliest in 2033, according to Walla. The project is set to cost about NIS 8 billion.
Three decades of efforts
Beersheba has been discussing building a light rail system for almost three decades, with all previous attempts falling through.
The plan was first mentioned in a Local Outline Plan for Beersheba in 1997, with then transportation minister Yitzhak Levi, then Dutch ambassador to Israel Van-Hellenberg-Hubar, the Dutch Logitech planning company, and then mayor of Beersheba David Bonfeld signing an agreement to conduct the planning of the line in 1998. In 1999, Beersheba mayor Yaakov Turner announced that the light rail would begin to run in 2003.
In 2008, the Transportation and Finance ministries announced that they were examining the establishment of the light rail again and in 2016, then transportation minister Israel Katz and the mayor of Beersheba announced that the planning of the line would begin. The planning efforts began in 2018 and in 2020 the government announced that a NIS 30 million budget had been approved for the planning of the line.