Acre Railway Station

Acre Railway Station ( _he. תחנת הרכבת עכו, "Taḥanat HaRakevet Akko") is an Israel Railways passenger station serving the city of Acre (Akko) and the surrounding towns and villages.

Location

The station is situated on the North-South coastal line. The Station is located on David Remez Street ( _he. רחוב רמז, "Reḥov Remez") in the eastern part of the city, across the road from the city market and a short walking distance from the central bus station .

History

The present-day station stands on the spot of a halt that existed as early as the 1930s on the Beirut – Cairo railway, constructed by the British during their Mandate for Palestine.

The station underwent a complete reconstruction from the summer of 2001 until the spring of 2002, which included the update to the present passenger station format of Israel Railways, as well as the erection of an island platform (housing platforms 2 and 3), a modern station hall and a tunnel connecting the two platforms. The official inauguration of the new station hall was on May 21, 2002.

Train service to the station was completely suspended on July 13, 2006, the day after the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict began, due to the Hezbollah rocket attacks on Acre. It was restored 32 days later, on August 14, two days after the ceasefire went into effect.

Design

The station consists of a side platform on the west (housing platform 1) and an island platform on the east (housing platforms 2 and 3) as well as two parallel rail tracks running between the side platform and the island platform and a third rail track running east of the island platform. The station hall is located on the west platform and a pedestrian tunnel connects the two platforms beneath the tracks.

Platform 1 is used for northbound trains, platform 2 for southbound trains and platform 3 is used for trains beginning or ending their journey at the station.

Train service

Acre Railway Station is a station on the main North-South coastal line of Israel Railways (Nahariya – Haifa – Tel Aviv – Ben-Gurion International Airport – Beersheba Inter-City Service). The station is situated between Nahariya Railway Station to the north and Kiryat Motzkin Railway Station to the south.

Timetable highlights:

*On weekdays the station is served by 32 southbound and 30 northbound Inter-City trains. First train departs at 01:09 and last train arrives at 01:26.

*On Fridays and holiday eves the station is served by 22 southbound and 20 northbound trains. First train departs at 01:09 and last train arrives at 15:00.

*On Saturdays and holiday the station is served by 6 southbound and 5 northbound trains. First train departs at 18:53 and last train arrives at 23:07.

Public transport connections

Acre Railway Station is located a short walking distance from Acre's central bus station, thus passenger can reach the station from almost every part of the region. A number of Inter-City and local buses stop just in front of the station, providing even better connection to the railway station.

Sherut Taxis (share taxis) stop on the street, just outside the station.

Facilities

*Payphone
*Ticket cashier
*Ticket machine
*Buffet
*Parking lot
*Toilet
*Taxi station

External links

* [http://www.israrail.org.il/english/index.html Israel Railways website]
* [http://www.railnewsil.com/english/ RailnewsIL]

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