Jerusalem 5800 English

The Metropolitan Jerusalem Master Plan

depths, it would be possible to dig the

subway tunnels without issues of harming

antiquities using “moles” – high-speed

digging equipment which makes digging

more efficient. The only issue that would

remain would be where to have the above-

ground entrances and exits. These points

would have to be chosen carefully and with

flexibility, while taking into consideration

any archeological findings, and giving

them proper archeological and scientific

care throughout the digging process, as is

accepted in any building project in Israel.

Though the antiquities problem can

be resolved, there is still opposition to a

subway among the planning committee.

The essential strategic stance taken in

the Jerusalem 5800 Plan is that all public

transportation lines would be above-ground.

The reasons for this stance is the ease of

access to such services and enjoying the

view while riding.

Further, it is not clear if there is

justification for building a subway system in

terms of the expected numbers of travelers.

Subway services are justified mainly due to

the capacity and speed of travel. A subway

line can serve up to 100,000 travelers an hour

in each direction, as opposed to 10,000 an

hour on the light rail or a BRT. For distances

of over 10 kilometers, travel times on the

subway are significantly shorter than by other

means, even if you take into account the

time it takes to get down to the station and

back above ground. But for short rides, the

total use of the subway – taking these times

into account – can be significantly greater

than the time it takes to use parallel means of

transportation. Thus, the subway would only

be worthwhile if there were lines with over

15,000 travelers per hour running distances

of over 5 kilometers. In the forecast for

Jerusalem over the coming decades, it seems

this is not to be the case.

In light of this, at the initial stage of

planning, it has been decided to turn down

this option and deal with the matter only if

there is a future need for it due to significant

demographic growth. The assumption is

that there may be a need to initially establish

any of the world’s biggest cities

have high-speed subways (metros)

as essentials parts of their public

transportation systems. Subways allow

masses of people to travel quickly from

one point in the city to another. The

Jerusalem 5800 planning committee

deliberated whether such a system is

essential in Jerusalem. The deliberation

touched upon two points: first, would

the structure, population size, and scope

of tourism render the use of subways

necessary? Second, what would be the

role and character of the subway? Would

it be possible to suffice with a few lines

serving central destinations, or, alternately,

would a full network serving most of the

metropolis be needed?

First, it should be noted that it has been

argued in the past that in Jerusalem, with

its multitudes of antiquities, it would be

impossible to dig the routes of such an

extensive underground transportation

system. But other ancient cities in the

world have dealt with such issues, and

nowadays, digging for the purposes of

such systems is done in bedrock, some 40-

50 meters underground, underneath those

archeological layers. There is no doubt that

if it were decided to build such a network

of underground trains in Jerusalem, it

would be built at such depths. At such

Transportation

The Subway

Will a subway be built in Jerusalem? The need for such a train depends on

many different factors, some of which are still unknown today. In any event,

it is a good idea to prepare for such a possibility and plan an innovative

network of underground trains for the Holy City.

Transportation