Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station

Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, February 2008
Inauguration date	May 1942
Closing date	31 July 2009
Location	Northwest of the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood in Tel Aviv
Bus Service	Inactive station

The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station (formerly known as the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station) was the main bus station of Tel Aviv between the years 1941 until 1993. The station served intercity bus routes as well as local city and suburban buses. The stations also included a taxi station, and was used as a big commerce center.

On August 18, 1993 the main activity of Tel Aviv's buses and taxis was transferred to the Tel Aviv's New Central Bus Station, and the name of station was officially renamed to its current name "The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station". The bus station officially closed in 31 July 2009.

History

In the late 1930s, the Tel Aviv municipality reached a decision to construct Tel Aviv's first central bus station in the area bordering the northwest working-class neighborhood of Neve Sha'anan.

In 1941, the station's platforms were built along a modernist building, designed by the architects Nahum Salkind and Joseph Wittkower. The station officially began operating in May 1942. Initially the station which was considered the most progressive bus station in the country during that period, including among other things underground passageways between the platforms.

The main motive for the establishment of the station in this area stemmed from the fact that urban buses used to park in this area during those years anyway, since the nearby Moshavot Square (כיכר המושבות) was used as a main transportation junction through which many buses used to pass and park.

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the station was used as a departure point for convoys heading towards Jerusalem and therefore it was bombed by Egyptian planes on May 15, 1948.

Later on, more bus lines were added to the station and congestion started forming. As a result, bus stations started spreading towards the surrounding streets of the station's building and the area became a busy transportation center.

During the 1960s, another entrepreneurial project began to form in the southern part of the neighborhood, now known as the Tel Aviv's New Central Bus Station complex. On August 18, 1993 the main activity of Tel Aviv's buses and taxis was transferred to the new station. The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station and its surrounding area became deserted, since the majority of the passenger activity moved to the new station, and as a result the old bus station became mainly used as a place for buses to park in. In addition, the many stores which used to surround the station were affected tremendously, and through the years the area became mostly populated with foreign workers.

On 31 July 2009, after more than 60 years of activity, "Egged" ended the activity of the remaining bus lines which passed through the station and transferred them to the new central station and other bus stations in the city. This way, the Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station officially finished functioning as a bus station. On 2 August 2009 the remaining platforms of the bus station were demolished.

Gallery

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  The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, 8 August 1950

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  The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, ca. 1958

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  The commerce area of The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, 2005

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  The Old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, 2006

See also

• Transport in Tel Aviv

Coordinates: 32°3′37.08″N 34°46′42.96″E / 32.0603°N 34.7786°E / 32.0603; 34.7786