In 2015 China Railway Tunnel Group, with an Israeli partner, has won an $800-million contract to build the tunnels and underground stations in the western section of the first line of the Tel Aviv light rail system. It is the largest tender for the project’s Red Line, awarded by NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd.
The joint venture of Shikun U’Binui subsidiary Solel Boneh and the Chinese firm is managing the dig of two parallel 5-kilometer long tunnels that constitute the main part of the underground section of the first line.
"It’s more than a year since we began the work. I’m happy to say that we are working full steam,”
says Sharon Volfer, project chief of staff at NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit, the company responsible for the system’s design and construction.
“We are working in 10 underground stations. We are building the stations. We are happy with the progress of the work, and we can say with confidence that we will be on time with this project.”
There will be four TBMs (tunnel-boring machines) at Galei Gil, ordered from China, that are going to dig two tunnels, two on the way to Ramat Gan and two on the way to Tel Aviv. The work will involving drilling of walls to a depth of 55 meters underground, followed by the TBMs beginning the tunnel digging on both sides of the shaft, with a pair of machines tunneling toward Ramat Gan and another pair digging toward Tel Aviv. Volfer says there will eventually be eight of those TBM machines, all working simultaneously. He also added:
“I am happy to say that the government and the minister of transport saw the work we did on the Red Line and all the preparation we have done, and just last week the government approved a budget of NIS 30 billion for the Green Line and the Purple Line. For these two lines. This is one of the biggest budgets the government has given for public transportation. It’s now up to us to continue with the design. We have set the goal to start work on both of these lines in 2018. In 2018 we will be building the Red, the Green, and the Purple lines all at the same time.”
“The Red Line is first. Our goal is to open the Green and the Purple Lines in 2024. And when we open the Red line, we will remove from the road 50,000 cars. And there will be 70 million people using the Red Line when it opens.
“Without this solution, I don’t know how people could live in Tel Aviv in 20 years. I can’t imagine it.”
