Riding the (light) rails in Jerusalem

August 22, 2011 - 8:15 PM by David

The Jerusalem light rail - before it got crowded.

On my last day of a short vacation, my 10-year-old son and decided to take our maiden journey on the new Jerusalem light rail which began carrying passengers on a trial basis last Friday.

Years in the making, and the object of much derision from Jerusalem residents and shop owners annoyed at the upheaval the construction of the tracks caused, the trains are actually up and running. And it’s actually very nice. Sleek, smooth and modern, the trains provide a jarring juxtaposition as they travel their route along the ancient Old City walls and by the old world Mahane Yehuda market.

But while we may have been expecting a leisurely, pleasant ride through Jerusalem with a few other passengers, we weren’t prepared for the human onslaught. Apparently, the decision to not charge a fee to ride the train in the initial stages until all the chinks have been worked out have made it a prime late summer attraction.

When we got aboard, on Road 1 near the National Police headquarters, it was already standing room only. Families, many of them haredi with a half-dozen children, were ‘enjoying’ the free ride to Mount Herzl. The downside is that the noise level was deafening, the waits at intersections and at the stations sometimes took up to three or four minutes, and it took more than an hour to arrive at the end of the line, a journey that would take maybe 20 minutes by car. The upside is that we made it in once piece, the ride was luxuriously smooth, there were no traffic jams, and we got to ride over the Strings Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem.

After alighting at Mount Herzl and visiting the highly recommended Herzl Musuem (after a planned visit to Yad Vashem was mutually nixed), we made the return ride back to the city center. However, after another standing room, noisy crowd, we decided to get off the train at the central bus station and take a bus the rest of the way. There, we both got seats, there were no kids screaming in our ears, and we made it back home in 25 minutes.

I’m sure I’ll ride the train again, it’s going to replace many of the bus lines in the coming months. But I may wait until they start charging , the crowds thin out, the intersections get in synch, and I have a free hour.

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