A fight over authority between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport is blocking construction of the fourth track along the Ayalon in Tel Aviv.
The Ministry of Finance has frozen financing for the project, on the grounds that the decision to transfer it to Israel National Roads Company Ltd. was not coordinated with it as required. Sources involved in the project told "Globes" that the ministry wants greater influence on the project's day-to-day management.
The fourth track along the Ayalon is a critical project to alleviate rail congestion in metropolitan Tel Aviv. It is the only long-term solution to clear the bottleneck, which prevent Israel Railways from running more trains. The NIS 3 billion project involves diverting the Ayalon River and other work. 75% of current rail lines are due to run along the Ayalon, and without the fourth track (or even fifth or sixth track), resulting in a bottleneck by 2015.
Almost 18 months ago, Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz transferred responsibility for the project from Ayalon Highways Ltd. to the Roads Company. The project's importance and complexity led to ministry officials to conclude that the Roads Company was better suited to carrying it out. Both companies agreed with the decision, but sources inform "Globes" that the Roads Company has yet received the necessary financing from the Ministry of Finance to work on the project's plans and get them approved.
The Ministry of Finance said in response, "The ministry has not frozen any handling of the project."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 15, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012