Railway to Chelm

Back in May, then Minister of Transportation, Yisrael Katz came out with the following quote.

'When I work in my current position as Minister of Transportation around Israel to build roads, ports, airports, and train tracks, I know that this is the real victory over what the Nazis tried to do. Each new rail line is the answer to those train lines that transported helpless and hopeless Jews to their deaths..'

I was among many who made the same joke. If the Israeli Authorities were in charge of transportation in Nazi Germany, the death tolls would probably have been significantly lower. Anyone who has ever taken the train or knows someone who has taken the train, is probably aware of bizarre decisions made by Israel Rail. Of course the hypocritical fight over railway maintenance was a big issue a number of years ago. I never dreamed that their level of incompetence could inconvenience my entire community.

The train tracks mark the border between Kiryat Motzkin and Kiryat Shmuel. There is only one pedestrian crossing point. This crossing point is used by many within the community during the week to facilitate ease of kids getting to school, people going to work, getting to shul during the week and on Shabbat and especially for those wanting to get from Kiryat Motzkin to the beach in Kiryat Yam. Given Kiryat Shmuel closes its roads for Shabbat and holidays, this crossing is essential for those needing to get non-emergent medical care as well. Channah uses the crossing to get to school and to get to the bus for after school activities. We, as a family, all use the crossing to get to shul.

The crossing is located just north of the train station. Due to outdated technology the crossing lights and barrier are activated before the northbound trains even pull into the station. This results in unnecessarily long waiting times and impatient people crossing before the train arrives at the crossing. About a year ago, instructions to be me more careful were painted on the ground approaching the crossing. For some reason it didn't seem to change the situation. 

Last week it was announced in the local news that the pedestrian crossing would be closing. The train station could be used instead of the crossing. A 'high tech' solution would be implemented to allow crossing during the hours that the train station was closed. Confusion around the logistics of the change as well as anger at the inconvenience of the move, were of great concern.

It turned out that Israel Railway is in the process of closing all of their pedestrian crossings. The sudden push to the top of the priority list was caused by a 16 year old, with head phones that was almost hit by a train.

As of today the new system is now in place. The crossing is closed by a gate on each side of the tracks.  The gate is locked with a padlock.  A security guard is stationed in front of each of the padlocked gates. There is a ticket machine located outside the train station. (The machine ran out of tickets today) People have to go through a security check. The ticket allows them access to the platform for 15 minutes, where the stairs are located to cross to the other side.  As the train is located in the opposite direction of school and requires going through morning rush hour security, Channah estimates that it adds another 8 to 10 minutes on her trip to school. Another minute or two on the way home as the train entrance from Kiryat Motzkin is at the opposite end of the station. 

I understand the motivation for eliminating the need to for pedestrians to cross the train tracks. There is no reason why they couldn't have come up with a practical solution to achieving the goal.