Israel eyes multi-billion-euro rail expansion, Saudi link on the cards
A domestic north-south high-speed railway within the next ten years.
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The Israeli government aims to connect the country’s major urban centres with the interior via rail as part of the ‘One Israel Project’. The plans call for an investment of 100 billion shekel (24.5 billion euro) in order to reduce travel from many parts in the country to Tel Aviv in under two hours. During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also confirmed interest in a rail link with Saudi Arabia.
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Mekka and Jerusalem are around 1500 km apart. That would be a nice route for night trains for Muslim pilgrims / tourists that like to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque (Jāmiʿ al-Aqṣā / Qibli) together with a visit to Mekka’s Kaaba. That would allow for a full day spent in Jerusalem, if not further extended to some old testament sites. Some would fly back from Tel Aviv airport or Amman. Muslim tourism might be a quite needed boost to the West Bank economy.