Tel Aviv–South תל אביב – דרום  | |||||
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 Tel Aviv South 1970 site photographed in 2008 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | David Remez Street,Tel Aviv | ||||
| Coordinates | 32°02′43″N34°47′12″E / 32.0452°N 34.7866°E /32.0452; 34.7866 | ||||
| Owned by | Israel Railways | ||||
| Line | Tel Aviv–Jerusalem | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Tracks | 4 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 1920 | ||||
| Closed | First location 1970, Second 1993 | ||||
| Rebuilt | 1970 | ||||
| Previous names | Custom House Station Beit Hadar Station | ||||
| Services | |||||
| 16 daily in both directions (in 1970) to: Jerusalem railway station Be'er Sheva North railway station | |||||
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Tel Aviv–South railway station was the name of two former railway stations inTel Aviv,Israel, which were situated in two different locations. The original station opened in 1920, then in 1970 it was relocated 2.5 km south-east, and it finally closed to passengers in 1993.
Located east of the historical 1970 station location is the active Tel Aviv Southrail yard and stabling point which is situated in thecentral reservation within the twocarriageways ofHighway 1, south ofTel Aviv HaHagana Station and the Kibbutz Galuyot Interchange where Highway 1 merges into the Ayalon Highway.
The station, originally namedTel Aviv Custom House Station, was built in 1920 by theBritish Mandate Authorities. Its first location(32°03′49″N34°46′37″E / 32.0636°N 34.7770°E /32.0636; 34.7770 (Tel Aviv South railway station (original location))), at a distance of approximately 2.5 km from theJaffa railway station, was facing the short Mikveh Israel Street, where the railway had followed a narrow curve between Yehuda Halevi Street and Railway (HaRakevet) Street.[1]
The construction of the station and its adjacentcustom house was part of rebuilding the wholeJaffa–Jerusalem railway, which had been damaged duringWorld War I, instandard gauge, rather than the original 1.05 metre gauge. This was one of the firstcivil engineering works theBritish carried out, once their governing mandate was established by theLeague of Nations. The new station and customs house were built to replace the existing Jaffa Customs House, which was old, congested and could not cope with the growing level of cargo traffic at that time.[1]
In 1935, an office building namedBeit Hadar (in Hebrew, the "Citrus House"), the firststeel frame structure inTel Aviv, was built next to the station by architectCarl Rubin. From that point on the station was also known asBeit Hadar Station.[2]
During the1947–1949 Palestine war service on theJaffa–Jerusalem railway was suspended and only resumed on August 7, 1949 following the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreement withJordan.[1]
On September 20, 1949, once theTel Aviv North railway station was opened (which was later renamedBnei Brak railway station), the station was renamedTel Aviv South railway station. At this time it also became aterminus, as the section of track toJaffa railway station was lifted and the Jaffa station closed.[1]
In 2023, theAllenby station of theRed Line (Tel Aviv Light Rail) opened at the location of the Beit Hadar station.
By the 1960s, the movement of trains on theJaffa–Jerusalem railway was disturbing the growing vehicletraffic along the major Tel Aviv artery ofPetah Tikva Road, later renamedBegin Road, therefore it was decided to relocate the station 2 km further out of town. The new station was opened on 26 November 1970. The tracks between the New Tel Aviv South Station and the original Customs House Station were lifted; however the Station building remained in place, in thecentral reservation ofHaRakevet Street; the station name can still be clearly seen on the building, although the structure itself is now abandoned and neglected.
Although the new station was quite spacious, with a large indoor passengerconcourse, 4 platforms and additionalsidings, it had only 16 rail services per day when it opened (8 in each direction).[3] The station was poorly used due to its remote location far away from the city centre (unlike its previous location which was much more centrally located). This contributed to a significant drop in passenger traffic and in 1979 the passenger rail service toBe’er Sheva was halted and the service to Jerusalem reduced to one train a day in each direction. However, in 1990, new suburban service toRehovot railway station was introduced.
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In 1993, as part of theAyalon Highway project the railway lines in theTel Aviv area were re-aligned. New tracks were laid within the highway'scentral reservation, finally linkingthe coastal line fromHaifa to Northern Tel Aviv with the railway line from Southern Tel Aviv toLod and from there toJerusalem,Be’er Sheva andAshdod (from 2005 also toAshkelon andBen Gurion Airport) to the south; thus creating a continuous rail corridor from the north of Israel to the south through Tel Aviv for the first time. Previously, all rail traffic from the north of the country to and from the south had to bypass the entireTel Aviv metropolitan area from the east. Since the new Ayalon railway bypassed the station, all passenger service to the station was discontinued and moved to theTel Aviv Central railway station, though Tel Aviv South Station remained connected to the rail network via a short spur to the Ayalon railway. Later, additional stations were built along theAyalon Highway, including the nearbyHaHagana andHolon Junction railway stations.
Today the station is used as a training site forIsrael Railways and occasionally as astabling point.
