Gush Dan metro could operate on Shabbat as driverless trains may cut NIS 150m. in annual costs

ByUDI ETZIONAUGUST 24, 2026 14:12Updated: AUGUST 24, 2026 14:33The planned Gush Dan metro trains will be highly automated, driverless, and run every minute and a half, even during peak hours. The metro system will be technically capable of operating on weekends. Eliminating drivers would reduce the extent of Shabbat violations involved in running the network, although security and operations personnel would still be required on Fridays and Saturdays.An NTA official stressed, however, that weekend service is only a technical possibility and that the decision will ultimately be made by the political leadership.Operating driverless trains will eliminate the need to recruit around 1,000 metro drivers, a significant challenge amid the shortage of public transportation drivers, and will reduce operating costs by approximately NIS 150 million per year.Due to the high levels of automation, every team competing in the tender for the trains, systems, and operations of the metro project must also include an Israeli company specializing in cyber and information security.Construction of the Tel Aviv metro light rail, May 21, 2026. (credit: YOSSI ALONI/FLASH90)NTA publishes prequalifications for companies competing for tenderThe NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System company (NTA) published on Monday morning the prequalification (PQ) process for companies that will compete in the tender for the project.This comes after a similar stage for the construction of the tunnels and underground stations, Infra 1, in which 20 groups comprising 33 infrastructure companies from Israel and around the world submitted bids for tenders worth approximately NIS 65 billion.The project is now moving to its next stage: from infrastructure construction (Infra 2) to the systems that will operate the metro. NTA is planning two tenders, one for the M1 line, which will run from the Sharon region to Rehovot, and another combining the M2 line, from Holon to Petah Tikva, and the M3 line, a ring line from Herzliya to Ben-Gurion Airport.NTA, which oversees the light rail and metro projects, is drawing lessons from previous projects: trains and operating systems will no longer struggle to communicate with one another. Instead, a single tender will be issued to a group of companies that will jointly provide the trains, signaling and control systems, electricity and energy systems, underground station systems, and finishing works.The tenders will also include integration between all systems, as well as network operation and maintenance services. Each group will be required to combine foreign and Israeli companies.Gush Dan metro network to handle over 600 million trips annually The metro network in the Gush Dan metropolitan area will include three lines totaling about 150 kilometers, 109 underground stations, and connections between 24 local authorities in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, from Rehovot to Kfar Saba. The system is expected to handle more than 600 million passenger trips annually, and together with the light rail network, more than 800 million trips each year.The project’s cost is estimated at approximately NIS 175 billion, but it is expected to provide an alternative to worsening traffic congestion in Gush Dan, allowing people to live farther from workplaces in less expensive housing while still reaching them quickly.At least officially, Chinese companies will not be barred from participating. At the end of the year, NTA will begin publishing the infrastructure tenders, and in another year it will publish the tender for the trains and systems.After a series of delays and warnings from the State Comptroller, NTA says the project is progressing according to the timeline set last year, which is expected to lead to a gradual commercial launch between 2037 and 2045.Follow us on Google