ISRAEL’s Metropolitan Mass Transit Systems (NTA) finally concluded a €2bn public-private partnership (PPP) deal to design, finance, construct and maintain the Green Line on December 17.
NTA originally selected the TMT consortium of Dan Buses Company, Electra, and Alstom for the project in early 2022.
The project is being financed by a consortium of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and two Israeli banks: Bank Hapoalim and Mizrahi Tefachot Bank. The financing agreement will enable TMT to start the second stage of construction, as well as manufacture 98 LRVs and systems. The operator will be selected in a separate tender.
The Green Line will be 39km long, including a 4km underground section, and will connect Holon and Rishon LeZion in the south to central Tel Aviv and Herzliya in the north. The line will have 62 stations, including four underground in the centre of Tel Aviv at Carlibach, Disengoff, Rabin Square, and Arlozorov.
Initial construction of the Green Line started in 2019 and it is expected to open in 2028, one year later than originally planned. The line is forecast to carry 70 million passengers a year.
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