Israel Railways co. the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel, announced last week that it posted NIS 1.58 billion revenue in 2012, up16% compared to 2011.
An annual financial report issued under the title "2012 - a breakthrough year for Israel Railways", the government controlled company presented a highly optimistic summary of its activity, saying that it reported "impressive growth in all operational measures."
The company attributes the growth to several key factors, including administrative focus, continuation of the development plan. According to the report investment in the railway network in 2012 totaled NIS 3.3 billion up 11% compared to 2011, and the addition of passenger cars as well as 21,000 seats in the past two years.
Israel Railways says that, after three years of stagnation, the number of passengers carried in 2012 exceeded 40 million for the first time, an increase of 4.44 million passengers (12%) over 2011.
The company also noted that at present 400 trains are operated daily, and that the number will increase to over 460 a day by the end of 2013.
The Israel Railways network consists of about 800 km of main lines, mostly passenger service. Dedicated freight lines are only in the south of the country and their main use is for transporting phosphate and other minerals to the Port of ASHDOD on the Mediterranean Sea. The present rolling stock fleet is diesel-operated, with a maximum running speed of 140 km/h.
