Light rail line section inaugurated in Haifa

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
A 10-kilometer stretch of the new Metronit light rail line was officially inaugurated by Transport Minister Israel Katz and Mayor Yona Yahav in Haifa last week, reports www.local.co.il. The section, which includes the streets Rothschild, Hamaginim, Ben-Gurion, Ha'atzma'ut and Derech Hagiborim, comprises a quarter of the total planned Metronit network, which is slated for completion within two years. According to the report, during the course of the work to construct the section, the yards of private homes fronting the line were upgraded, underground infrastructure was rehabilitated, car parks were constructed and the streets along the line were repaved and beautified. The report said the entire Metronit project would cost an estimated NIS 50 million and it was expected to begin operating in 2011. "The Metronit is based on Haifa's position as the biggest transport metropolis in the country, including the train, the airfield, the port and the cable car," Yahav said at the inauguration ceremony. "The line, which will encircle Haifa and the Carmel, will lead to a real change in the quality of life of residents of Haifa and the north."