By GIL STERN STERN ZOHAR
While Israel Railways Web site states that the 30-kilometer train line from Modi'in Central to Jerusalem's new terminus opposite the Central Bus Station is slated to open in 2011, that target now seems technically impossible.
According to a report in the financial daily Globes, digging on the two tunnels through the Judean Hills for the high-speed track is going to be delayed until early 2009 because Israel Railways has been unable to find a place to dump the earth removed from the project's 20 km. of tunnels. Israel Railways recently notified the finance and transportation ministries that this delay will likely push back the opening of the extension to 2013 or 2014.
Shapir Civil and Marine Engineering Ltd. and the Austrian company Voestalpine Schienen GmbH won the construction tender for the NIS 1.5 billion tunnels 18 months ago, but have yet to receive a work permit because of the issue of where to dispose of the rubble.
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