History Jaffa railway station

jaffa railway station in 2009



jaffa railway station in 1892

the idea build railway linking coast jerusalem first raised in middle of 19th century dr. conrad schick, sir moses montefiore , others. franchise laying railway obtained ottoman government joseph navon, due financial difficulties, had sell franchise french company set build line – société du chemin de fer ottoman de jaffa à jérusalem et prolongements.

the groundbreaking ceremony took place on march 31, 1890. track chosen of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ⁄8 in) metre gauge, similar french minor railways, , brought in france , belgian manufacturer angleur. short 600 mm (1 ft 11 ⁄8 in) gauge section, meter gauge section pier, laid between port of jaffa , jaffa station transport materials harbor railway.

the first test run made on railway in october 1890, event attended 10,000 onlookers—more half of population of jaffa. locomotive baldwin 2-6-0, 1 of first 3 built line, , carried american , french flags. section between jaffa , ramla railway station opened public on may 24, 1891, , further section dayr aban opened on december 4 of same year. stations built short time before track laid in respective areas. in jaffa , jerusalem, french railway company sought build stations close possible old cities, while ottoman authorities prevented them doing so, resulting terminuses relative distance (for time) city centers. despite this, land stations built on purchased @ high prices railway company.

in 1892, construction of whole line jaffa jerusalem completed. jerusalem railway station inaugurated on 26 september 1892 in presence of city s dignitaries, jews , arabs. among present @ ceremony eliezer ben yehuda, reviver of hebrew language, gave train literal name of - horse of steel in hebrew word rakevet had not yet been created.

the length of journey approximately 3.5–4 hours, equal same trip on carriage, , contrary original plan, envisioned 2-hour trip. so, yosef navon granted several high-profile awards efforts, , opening event received extensive media coverage worldwide.

during british mandate

during world war i, railway taken on turkish , german armies, adapted serve needs. while jaffa railway station served military headquarters during war, ottomans did not want expose railway british naval bombardment. in 1915, of heavy machinery , equipment moved jerusalem, , later in same year jaffa–lydda section dismantled. rails , sleepers used in construction of railway beersheba. lydda–jerusalem section re-laid 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ⁄32 in) gauge, , lydda connected hejaz railway through tulkarm.

when british advanced northwards in november 1917, railway sabotaged retreating turkish army , (five) of bridges blown up. turks carried away movable, railway cars , wooden rails parts of stations. still valuable british, provided viable link jerusalem egypt, roads in disrepair. trestle bridges installed instead of destroyed iron ones , 600 mm (1 ft 11 ⁄8 in) gauge railway built jaffa lydda, extension yarkon river, front line @ time., continued used until 1922–23 transporting construction materials, without locomotives. 600 mm gauge railway extension built jaffa railway station port of jaffa, operated until 1928.

in 1918, palestine military railways of victorious british forces rebuilt line wider 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) standard gauge, operation lasted between january 27 , june 15. final section, between jaffa , lydda, completed in september 1920, , inaugurated in ceremony attended sir herbert samuel, british high commissioner, on october 5.

in april 1920 civilian palestine railways took on line , britain compensated original french operators £565,000, down original demand of £1.5 million made french. coastal railway extended haifa el kantara, intersecting jaffa–jerusalem line junction @ lydda.

the station after 1948

immediately following declaration of independence state of israel, services moved tel aviv south railway station 2.5 km east , station closed. (services moved once again in 1970 2 km further out towards city s outskirts, became disused when new railway alignment in tel aviv started operating in mid-1990s.)