Steel and Imperial Dreams: When the Land of Israel Joined the Rails

Nir Topper
1 hour ago
4 min read

Jaffa, 1892: A bustling port city defined by horse-drawn carriages and rugged dirt paths. Into this "quasi-medieval" reality burst the first steam engine. This revolution began through the initiative of Yosef Navon, a Jewish entrepreneur from Jerusalem, who successfully secured a concession from the Sultan to establish the Jaffa–Jerusalem line. The journey to Jerusalem, which once took a grueling day and a half, was shortened to just five hours. During the festive inauguration ceremony, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda gave the machine its Hebrew name—Rakevet (train)—and the city of Jerusalem began to emerge from its walls and integrate into the global economy.

A few years later, the Ottoman Empire launched its grandest geo-strategic project: the Hejaz Railway. Built and operated in the early 20th century, it ran between Damascus, Syria, and Medina in the Hejaz region. Construction began in 1900 by order of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (the one responsible for the famous clock towers) with the consultation of German experts. The line was inaugurated on September 1, 1908, marking the Sultan’s coronation day. While the official mission was to transport Muslim pilgrims from Damascus to Medina and Mecca, the Ottomans also held significant strategic and commercial interests. In fact, the goal of reaching Mecca was never fully realized; the tracks spanned 1,300 kilometers from Damascus to Medina, falling 400 kilometers short of Mecca.

The "Valley Railway" (Rakevet HaEmek), a legendary branch line from Haifa to Daraa in Syria, transformed Haifa from a sleepy town into a metropolis. A rich body of folklore developed around its notorious slowness; stories were told of passengers jumping off to pick flowers and hopping back onto the moving carriage. Beneath the legends, however, this train served as "The Sultan’s Donkey"—a tool for military control and resupply, built with a unique 105 cm track gauge. This oddity was the result of an engineering error in a European factory that eventually became the mandatory standard for the line.

During the British Mandate, the railway evolved into a magnificent yet complex system. The Palestine Railways (PR) company operated luxurious sleeping and dining cars from Haifa to Cairo—a ten-hour journey on what was considered the local "Orient Express." However, British engineers struggled with unexpected local foes: the region’s water was saturated with lime, which clogged locomotive boilers, and the steep inclines to Jerusalem caused frequent derailments. During World War II, engineering units from New Zealand and South Africa constructed the spectacular HBT line, connecting Haifa to Beirut and Tripoli through tunnels carved into the cliffs of Rosh HaNikra. This line operated for less than six years; inaugurated in 1942 as a vital military and strategic artery, its activity ceased abruptly on the night of March 14, 1948. Palmach fighters blew up the bridges inside the tunnels to prevent the invasion of Lebanese forces from the north as the Mandate drew to a close—an act that severed the rail connection to Europe to this very day.

As a symbol of ruling power, the railway became a primary target for underground movements and the Arab Revolt. Between 1936 and 1939, a "railway terror pandemic" broke out: bridges were sabotaged, stations were burned, and the British even employed "human shield" tactics—placing detainees on flatcars at the front of the trains. The struggle peaked during the "Night of the Bridges" in June 1946. In a coordinated strategic operation, Palmach fighters simultaneously blew up 11 bridges connecting the Land of Israel with neighboring countries. This operation was designed to paralyze British military supply routes and demonstrate the strength of the Yishuv (the Jewish community), effectively severing Israel's rail links with its neighbors and altering the region's geopolitical map.

With the end of the British Mandate in May 1948, the Palestine Railways system was handed over to the newly established State of Israel, becoming "Israel Railways" (Rakevet Israel). The transition was far from smooth. A significant portion of the professional workforce—drivers, locksmiths, mechanics, and operators—were Palestinian Arabs, many of whom did not continue their work after the outbreak of the war and the formation of new borders. This resulted in a severe shortage of skilled personnel and hampered the operational capacity of the lines remaining under Israeli control. The new organization was headed by Moshe Paicovitch, the first Director-General of Israel Railways. Amidst the conditions of war and a tense security climate, the management had to restart lines and recruit and train Jewish workers for complex technical roles, often relying on the limited professional experience that remained within the state’s borders. This process was part of a broader effort to stabilize the infrastructure of the young nation.

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On August 7, 1949, the first festive train departed from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem following the War of Independence, garnering significant media attention. On board were high-ranking figures, including Transport Minister David Remez, and the event symbolized the restoration of the rail link between the cities and the return of parts of the line to Israeli control. However, regular passenger service only began in 1950. The tracks were not exactly "rebuilt" but rather restored to function after the wartime hiatus.

The history of the railway in the Land of Israel up to 1950 reflects the rapid transition from traditional transportation to a modern, industrialized infrastructure. From the local initiative of Yosef Navon to the strategic projects of the Ottoman and British Empires, and finally to the restoration and nationalization of the tracks with the establishment of the State. The railway did more than just shorten distances; it served as a central political and military tool in shaping the region's borders and creating the territorial continuity of the young State of Israel.

Image 1: Map of the Hejaz Railway. (Source: Wikipedia, Hejaz Railway)

Image 2: A French map showing the railways of the Ottoman Empire, including the Hejaz Railway and the Jaffa–Jerusalem line. (Source: Wikipedia, Hejaz Railway)