Jerusalem's L3 light rail line will be extended from HaTurim station to Damascus Gate, passing through the city center, beginning on Tuesday, the Finance Ministry, the Transportation Ministry, Jerusalem Municipality, Transportation for Jerusalem, and Cfir Light Rail announced.
The extension will provide passengers with direct access to downtown Jerusalem while increasing the frequency of light rail service along Jaffa Street.
Five additional stations shared with the L1 line, which runs between Neve Yaakov and Hadassah Ein Kerem, will be added to the L3 route. The new stops will connect passengers to major destinations in central Jerusalem, including Mahane Yehuda Market, City Hall, the Mamilla shopping district, and the entrance to the Old City.
The extension of the L3 line will also prevent the need to switch to the crowded L1 line for service to downtown Jerusalem, instead spreading out the crowd between the two lines.
L4 line nears opening as test runs in final phases
Meanwhile, the L4 line, which will connect the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo and surrounding areas to the city's light rail network, is nearing the completion of its testing phase.
The line is expected to open to the public in the near future, pending the required safety approvals.
Jerusalem plans more light rail lines, extensions
Several additional lines and extensions are planned for the city, according to a master plan map on the Cfir website.
The L3 line is set to eventually extend to Hadassah-University Medical Center, on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus, along with the upcoming L4 line. From there, the future L4 line is expected to run along the now under-construction Blue Line and join the L3 near Malha, stopping in downtown, the First Station, and Talpiot along the way.
L4 is one of two lines that will include underground stations in the Mea She'arim area; the second is L6, which will run from Ramot to join the L4 before splitting off to serve the Har Homa area, then running along Hebron Road to terminate alongside the L6 in Gilo.
A crosstown line, L8, is also under development, set to depart Armon Hanatziv in East Talpiot and terminate at Hadassah-University Medical Center, in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, alongside the L1, connecting with L3, L4, L6, and L7 at several different stations along the way.
Also being added to the Hadassah Ein Kerem terminal is L2, which will run as a supplement to L1 to HaTurim station to increase capacity on the crowded original line.
One additional line, the L5, is expected to run from Hadassah Mount Scopus to Har Nof, with infrastructure already in place to allow it to split from the Green Line and cross the Red Line near the Chords Bridge, adjacent to the Central Bus Station and Yitzhak Navon rail station.
At the time of writing, it was unclear when these new lines would open or whether their routes were finalized.