Haifa Hof HaCarmel Railway Station

Haifa Hof HaCarmel Railway Station ( _he. תחנת הרכבת חיפה חוף הכרמל, "Taḥanat HaRakevet Haifa Ḥof HaCarmel") is an Israel Railways passenger station serving the city of Haifa. The station is named after the geographical region in which it is situated – The Carmel Beach ( _he. חוף הכרמל, "Ḥof HaCarmel"). It is also officially dedicated to Sha'ul Raziel. It is considered Haifa's main station as of the early 2000s.

Location

The station is situated on the North-South coastal line and is located in the south-west part of Haifa. It is located on Sakharov street ( _he. רחוב סחרוב, "Reḥov Saḥarov"), adjacent to Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station, just north of Haifa South interchange, where the Coastal Highway (Highway 2) ends. The station is also within walking Distance from 2 shopping malls (Haifa Mall and Castra Mall), Haifa's Congressional Center and the MATAM Area (a large hi-tech office park). The station is one of three railway stations serving the city of Haifa directly and also one of six railway stations within Haifa's municipal borders.

History

The location where the modern-day Hof HaCarmel Railways Station stands was known as Kfar Samir station at the time of the British Mandate for Palestine.

Hof HaCarmel Railway Station was built during the first half of 1999 as part of the Hof HaCarmel Transport Complex in Haifa's southern outskirts. The construction of the Hof HaCarmel Complex, along with the Miftatz Complax at the northern outskirts, was aimed at reducing traffic congestion at Haifa's Down-Town (or Lower-Town).

The station was officially opened on July 10, 1999, and saw a steady increase in passenger numbers ever since, becoming Haifa's main railway station.

At the spring of 2006 the construction of the station's second story was begun. The additional offices, spanning above the tracks, are planned to house Israel Railways' modernized control and supervision center. The construction is planned for completion by the second quarter of 2007.

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict train service to the station was suspended after a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket hit a train depot in Haifa on July 16, 2006, killing 8 Israel Railways workers. This suspension meant that Haifa, and indeed all of northern Israel, where cut off from the train network. The service was reinstated several days later, after Israel Railways gave in to heavy public pressure lead by Haifa’s mayor, Yona Yahav, making it the northernmost station to operate during the war, solely providing train link to the whole of northern Israel.

Design

The station consists of two side platforms and one island platform, numbered from west to east (1 to 4), between each side platform and the island platform there are two rail tracks – four in total. The length of western platform (platform 1) and the two platforms on the island platform (platforms 2 and 3) is 250 meters, while the eastern platform (platform 4) is only 70 meters in length.

The main station hall is located to the east of the rail tracks. Several meters north of the entrance to the station there is a pedestrian tunnel connecting the railway station with the adjacent Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station. In addition, a small station building is located to the west of the rail tracks, allowing access to the beach and the parking lot outside the station.

The two side platforms and the island platform are interconnected by a pedestrian tunnel equipped with lifts allowing access for the disabled. A second tunnel connects the station's eastern and western sides, running alongside but separated by a glass brick wall from the platform-access tunnel, this tunnel was constructed after Haifa's city council demanded that a free access to the beach, west of the station, would be provided, bypassing any station territory where train tickets are required.

Hof HaCarmel Railway Station is the only railway station in Israel with a reinforced concrete roof spanning from the eastern station hall to the western station building covering all the rail tracks and platforms, this roof is to become the floor of the second story of the station, housing Israel Railways' modernized control and supervision center. Platform 1 is used for northbound Inter-City trains, platform 2 for southbound Inter-City trains. Platform 3 is used only for suburban trains requiring the relocation of the locomotive from one end of the train to the other and platform 4 is the primary platform used by suburban trains.

Train Service

Hof HaCarmel Railway Station is a station on both the main North-South coastal line of Israel Railways (Nahariya – Haifa – Tel-Aviv – Ben-Gurion Airport Inter-City Service) and a terminus for the suburban line serving Haifa's northern suburbs – The Qrayot (Haifa - Qiryat Motzkin Suburban Service), as well as being an important interchange station between the two railway lines. The station is situated between Haifa Bat Galim Railway Station to the north and Atlit Railway Station.

*Inter-City Service:
**On weekdays the station is served by 44 southbound and 45 northbound trains. First train departs at 01:40 and last train arrives at 00:47.
**On Fridays and holiday eves the station is served by 23 southbound and 20 northbound trains. First train departs at 01:40 and last train arrives at 15:30.
**On Saturdays and holiday the station is served by 7 southbound and 5 northbound trains. First train departs at 18:50 and last train arrives at 22:09.

*Suburban Service:
**On weekdays the station is served by 14 southbound and 12 northbound suburban trains to and from The Qrayot. First train departs at 06:55 and last train arrives at 19:14.

Public Transport Connections

Hof HaCarmel Railway Station is adjacent to Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station and connected to it via a pedestrian tunnel, this makes the station accessible from dozens of city and Inter-City bus lines.

Facilities

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

External links

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

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