First Israelis undergo Light Rail workshop in China
Public transportation wagons constructed in the People’s Republic are meant to ease traffic in central Israel.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFThe Israeli team with their Chinese hosts (photo credit: NTA)
Four drivers were chosen by NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System to undergo special training in Changchun, north-east China, where they visited the factory in which wagons for are being built for the Light Rail project that is meant to ease the traffic issue in central Israel.The current wagons being built will be serving the Red Line, which will travel from Petah Tikva to Bnei Brak.As part of their visit to the factory, the drivers learned about the design of the system. They also went to Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, to experience its rapid transit system which opened in 2004. NTA is partnered with the Shenzhen Metro Group (SZMC).The drivers took a driving simulator and accompanied drivers on their lines.NTA said the Red Line is due to open in September 2021 and that the first wagons will reach the country in the upcoming months, a press release reported on Tuesday.Two other lines for the Light Rail project, the Green and the Purple, will connect Holon to Herzliya and Yehud to Tel Aviv, respectively. The construction of the Light Rail, which would serve as the main public transportation system of the Gush Dan region, was dubbed as the largest and most complex transportation project ever executed in Israel.
