Fast Tel Aviv-Jerusalem rail link due in 2018: minister

A new half-hour train link between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will open in 2018, changing the lives of thousands of Israelis, the transport minister said on Tuesday. The two cities, which account for the majority of the country's economic activity, are nearly 70 kilometres (44 miles) apart but are currently served only by a 90-minute winding railway line on a route designed during the British mandate. The much-delayed new train service will shuttle passengers at up to 160 kilometres per hour from ea