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TheHeletz Railway (Hebrew:מסילת חלץ,Mesilat Heletz) is a 20 km railway in southernIsrael which connects theRailway to Beersheba from a point just south ofKiryat Gat to theLod–Ashkelon railway nearmoshavMavki'im. The track passes close to moshavHeletz, from which it derives its name.
The railway was constructed byIsrael Railways in the early 1980s, to provide a shortcut for freight trains from southern Israel headed for thePort of Ashdod. Previously, such trains had to be routed through theLod Railway Station in central Israel. The railway was once used for some limited passenger service, though today it is used by passenger trains only on an emergency basis—in instances when the Lod – Kiryat Gat section of the Railway to Beersheba is blocked.
TheAshkelon-Beersheba railway which opened in 2015 to the south of the Heletz railway provides an alternate rail connection between the Railway to Beersheba and the Lod-Ashkelon railway.
Israel Railways has proposed a plan to extend the Heletz railway from Kiryat Gat toTarqumiyah in the future as a means of providing a rail connection between theGaza Strip and the southernWest Bank.
31°35′52″N34°39′56″E / 31.597673°N 34.665583°E /31.597673; 34.665583
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