""Moses brought the people out of the desert in 40 years, we will do it in six years""

June 22, 2015   

לקראת תחילת העבודות על הרכבת הקלה בגוש דן ב-2 אוגוסט,  בעלות של מיליארדי שקלים, כינסו משרד התחבורה וחברת נת"ע מסיבת עיתונאים בבית סוקולוב בתל אביב, במהלכה הכריז שר התחבורה ישראל כץ על תחילת העבודות, שילוו בחסימת כבישים. במסיבת העיתונאים הציגו משרד התחבורה וחברת נת"ע את בקשותיהם מהנהגים במהלך עבודות הבנייה - הצפויות להימשך בין חמש לשבע שנים, ככל הנראה עד שנת 2021 - ובהם שינוי שעות הנסיעה לעבודה ובחזרה, תכנון מסלולי נסיעה חלופיים, לחבור לנסיעות משותפות בכלי רכב, להשתמש בחניוני ה'חנה וסע' ובשירותי השאטלים. At the press conference, the Minister of Transportation referred to the timetable for building the light rail, saying: "If Moses brought the Israelites out of the desert in 40 years, we are going to do it in six years. The longer it is postponed, the more impossible it will be.".  Minister Katz admitted: "Obviously, if we had done this decades ago, it would have been easier, more things could have been done. "It's unbelievable, how for more than 60 years in developed countries they have established mass transit, here in the Dan bloc it has not happened to this day.". The railway track to be built will be half above ground, and the other half below. The train is expected to serve residents of the cities of Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv and Bat Yam. The excavation of the tunnels in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan is expected to cause blockages on major roads and change the face of traffic. This is a disruption to traffic of an unprecedented magnitude in Israel. The work will begin in seven central areas: five in Tel Aviv and two in Ramat Gan, and as a result, the Maariv Bridge, Government Center, and the Stock Exchange complex in Ramat Gan will be closed to traffic.   The stations whose construction will begin as early as August are Yehudit, Allenby and Karlibach stations in Tel Aviv and Abba Hillel and Bialik in Ramat Gan. In October, work will begin on the construction of Arlozorov and King Saul stations.  In order to deal with the parking and traffic shortage that will arise, NTA has prepared a 'Park and Ride' program, which will serve those entering and leaving the city of Tel Aviv. The program will begin operating on August 2, and will build 3,500 parking spaces where private vehicle owners will be able to park their cars, and then board a shuttle service that will take them to Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan. The system will operate every five minutes during peak hours. In addition, public transportation along the work route will be reinforced, and additional lanes will be built along the work route. [youtube url="https://youtu.be/jfbzl_US97I" width="600" height="400" responsive="yes" autoplay="no"]