Power line damage forces days-long rail disruption in Israel

Israel Hayom reported that the Israeli rail company stated on Friday morning that damage to power transmission infrastructure in central areas of the occupied Palestinian territories has disrupted train services. As a result, the Tel Aviv–Haifa route, in both directions, will be closed for four days.

The disruption comes after a freight train collided with power transmission infrastructure last night, causing damage to two sections of the network that will take several days to repair.

The collision with high-voltage power cables occurred in the Ganot junction area south of Tel Aviv, and between Hadera and Netanya.

Preliminary assessments indicate that hundreds of meters of high-voltage cable were damaged, making travel on the affected line extremely dangerous.

Specialist teams are working to repair the damage, and reconstruction is expected to take several days.

As a result of the incident, all train services between Binyamina and Netanya, Tel Aviv stations, and Lod/Ben Gurion Airport have been suspended.

Israeli officials have so far declined to say whether the incident was intentional or accidental, stating only that the cause of the collision is under investigation.