After years of construction, Jerusalem's Green Line light rail finally opens this Friday, and if you navigate the city regularly, you're about to get a lot more connected.
The L3 line runs seven kilometers from Turim Station downtown to Malcha in the south, hitting 13 stops along the way. Twelve of them are brand new. That means commuters heading to the Hebrew University, the Teddy Kollek Stadium, the Botanical Garden, or any of the government offices, tech parks, and shopping centers scattered across the city now have a direct rail option instead of hunting for bus routes.
What actually matters here is the connection. Two stations, Turim and the Central Station at Binyanei Ha'Uma, will tie the Green Line to the existing Red Line, Israel Railways, and the bus network. So if you're arriving by train from Tel Aviv, you can hop directly onto the light rail and keep moving. If you're driving from outside the city, a planned Park and Ride at Highway 16 will eventually let you ditch the car and connect to the whole system without fighting downtown traffic.
The Green Line is the first piece of what Jerusalem's light rail authority calls the "Green Path Project." The L4 line, which will connect the Gilo neighborhood, is expected to open in the coming months. And somewhere down the road, they're planning a segment that reaches the Mount of Olives area, though no timeline is public yet.
The Jerusalem Light Rail company announced the opening on Tuesday.
