The launch of the Red Line of the Tel Aviv light rail system is in sight. NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System, the company responsible for construction of the system, has received a letter of approval in principle for operating the line from the German companies hired to certify its safety. The letter will enable the company to recruit conductors and to bring the matter before the steering committee, which is made up of representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport, and which will be able to set a date for commercial operation of the line, after years of postponements. The assessment is that the line will be ready for operation by the end of the month.
The line was supposed to open in October 2021. The opening was postponed to November 2022, but before that date a defect in the signaling system was discovered, and the opening was repeatedly proponed until eventually no official launch date was set.
