Electra-Afikim (), known also as Afikim, is an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

bus company that operates on routes connecting the

Gush Dan Gush Dan (, ) or Tel Aviv metropolitan area is a conurbation in Israel, located along the country's Mediterranean coastline. There is no single formal definition of Gush Dan, though the term is in frequent use by both governmental bodies and the ...

and Sharon plain regions with the western

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

region of the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, as well as lines in

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...

Rosh HaAyin Rosh HaAyin (; ) is a city in the Central District of Israel. It is located in the eastern ravine of the Sharon River, opposite the Samaria Mountains. The city is named after its location at the source of the Yarkon River (“Ras” meaning sou ...

and other locations.

History

The company was founded in 2008 and is part of Sela Holdings. It began operating on September 1, 2009.

2010s

In March 2013, the company began operating ' Palestinian only' buses and bus lines for

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

workers commuting from the

to jobs in

, following complaints from

Jewish settlers Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Jewish identity or ethnicity, and hav ...

. Afikim also purchased Connex's activity in Israel in 2013, significantly expanding its operations, and as of November 2014, operated about 145 routes and a fleet of 350 buses, with plans to purchase a further 200 for the Ashdod–Yavne–Tel Aviv sector. In 2015, Afikim won the tender for cluster of Petah Tikva and Rosh HaAyin which includes all intracity service in Petah Tikva and

. On May 6, 2016, Afikim started to operate the intracity and intercity services in Rosh HaAyin and line 47 from

Giv'at Shmuel Giv'at Shmuel () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Center District of Israel. It is located in the eastern part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area and bordered by Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak to the West, Kiryat Ono to the South and P ...

to Petah Tikva. On February 13, 2017, Afikim started to operate line 485 from

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Ben Gurion Airport Ben Gurion International Airport , commonly known by the Hebrew language, Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on outskirts north of the city of Lod and directly south of the city of Or Yehuda, i ...

2020s

In 2021, Electra-Afikim acquired

Egged Ta'avura Egged Ta'avura () is an Israeli bus company. It was a subsidiary of the Egged Bus Cooperative and Ta'avura Holdings, and was founded by a merger of two smaller Egged subsidiaries, following privatization and public transportation reform in Israel ...

. Since, it has merged the operations and branding of Ta'avura into Electra-Afikim. Electra-Afikim keeps the Ta'avura company active for as long as it has contracts with the Israeli government.

Ridership by sector

In 2017, each sector had the following annual ridership:

References

{{Transportation in Israel Bus companies of Israel

History

2010s

2020s

Ridership by sector

See also

References