The Greater Tel AvivMetro M2 line was presented and discussed yesterday in the National Infrastructures Committee plenum led by Zeev Bielski, Head of the National Housing Headquarters.
The M2 line will be 22 kilometers long extending from Petah Tikva in the east via Givat Shmuel and splitting into two branch lines - one via Bnei Brak and one via Ramat Gan before rejoining in Givatayim and proceeding to Tel Aviv and Holon. The project is being implemented by government company NTA - Metropolitan Mass Transit Ltd.
The M2 line will have 22 stations and among other locations will saerve Bar-Ilan University, Bloomfield Stadium, the Carmel Market, Habimah Theater and Wolfson Hospital.
During the presentation, the meeting's participants were told that work will be carried out using tunnel boring machines (TBM) that can dig ten meters per day. The tunnels will be 25-40 meters underground and the diameter of the tunnels will be 6.5 meters. Trains will run in operate directions in two separate tunnels that will be linked every 250 meters.
The mayors of the cities through which the M2 line will run welcomed the plan but had criticisms about some of the works sites and transformer stations which are located on land designated for other purposes including private construction and public parks.
The Greater Tel Aviv Metro will eventually comprise three lines with 145 kilometers of underground tracks and 109 stations. The lines will pass through 24 local authorities and serve two million passengers per day.
In February, the National Infrastructures Committee decided to send the plans for the M1 and M3 lines to the District Committee for discussions. An estimate NIS 150 billion will be invested in the Tel Aviv Metro, which is Israel's most expensive national infrastructure project.
NTA CEO Haim Glick said, "The procedure today in the National Infrastructures Committee is another step towards the good transportation news that NTA is bringing to Gush Dan through three Metro lines and three Light Rail lines that are already under construction. The Metro is a huge and unprecedented national challenge in which government ministries and local authorities are working together with the NTA to ensure the success of the project."
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