As thousands head to Mount Herzl

Light rail down on Iron Swords memorial day

Thousands heading to Mount Herzl for Iron Swords memorial ceremonies find the entire Red Line out of service after an electrical cable tore in Neve Yaakov; replacement buses running

Gila Isaacson

OCT 5, 2026 11:00

2 min read

Jerusalem Light Rail Shut Down as Cable Snaps on Iron Swords Memorial day

The entire Red Line of the Jerusalem light rail is out of service this morning after an electrical cable tore in the Neve Yaakov area in the north of the city.

Normally when there is a breakdown, only part of the line is shut down, either the section north of Damascus Gate or south of the Central Bus Station. This time the entire line is down.

The shutdown comes on the day thousands are expected at the Mount Herzl military cemetery for memorial ceremonies for those who fell in Operation Iron Swords three years ago, on the national memorial day established in their memory.

In a joint statement, the Ministry of Transport, the Jerusalem Municipality and Transportation for Jerusalem expressed anger at the light rail operator: "This morning an electrical cable tore in the Neve Yaakov area, and as a result service on the L1 line of the light rail has been temporarily suspended.

Replacement buses are available for passengers. Passengers are asked to check with the Kfir company hotline at *2779 for service arrangements.

The Ministry of Transport, the Jerusalem Municipality and Transportation for Jerusalem are working urgently with Kfir to repair the fault immediately. It has been made clear to Kfir that this situation is unacceptable and does not meet the service standard expected in operating the light rail."