Sharon Railway

Sharon Railway ( he, מסילת השרון, mesilat ha-šaron) is a 12 km double-track railroad in the

Sharon plain The Sharon plain ( ''HaSharon Arabic: سهل شارون Sahel Sharon'') is the central section of the Israeli coastal plain. The plain lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Samarian Hills, to the east. It stretches from Nahal ...

area of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, located in the median of Highway 531. It serves as a connection between the Coastal Railway and the Eastern Railway and runs parallel to the

Yarkon Railway The Yarkon Railway ( he, מסילת הירקון, Mesilat HaYarkon) is a double-track railroad following the course of the Yarkon River in the central area of Israel. It is about 15 km long, stretching from the Coastal Railway to the Eastern ...

which is located approximately 7km to the south. In the vicinity of Ra'anana South interchange (where Highway 531 meets

Highway 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakavi ...

), the Sharon Railway passes through a 1.8km long tunnel. The construction of both the highway and the railway started in the early 2000s, and the first station on the new line, Kfar Saba–Nordau, opened on 13 April 2003. The second station, Hod Hasharon Sokolov, opened on 2 September 2006. Two additional stations, Ra'anana South and Ra'anana West, opened on 3 July 2018 as part of a larger construction project to extend Highway 531 to the Coastal Highway. The project also included quadruple-tracking the section of the Coastal Railway between

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it ...

, which previously consisted of double-track since the late 1980s. The connection to the Coastal Railway opened on 5 July 2020, with hourly service between Kfar Saba–Nordau and Herzliya. Eventually, the service frequency is expected to be increased and extended to Tel Aviv, making it possible to reduce the travel time between

Ra'anana Ra'anana ( he, רַעֲנָנָּה, lit. "Fresh") is a city in the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where an importan ...

and Tel Aviv Savidor Center from 40 to 20 minutes. Works to electrify the railway began in the fall of 2020 and were completed in late 2021. Standard gauge railways in Israel {{Israel-struct-stub