Cornerstone laid for Tel Aviv Metro

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday laid the cornerstone for the Tel Aviv Metro, a multibillion-dollar underground rail network billed as the “largest infrastructure project” in the country’s history.

“For decades, there were those who talked about it. Ben-Gurion talked about it, others talked about it too,” Netanyahu said at the groundbreaking in Petach Tikvah, east of Tel Aviv, referring to Israel’s first premier.

“Talk, talk, talk. But dreaming is not enough. Nothing happens without a dream, but if you remain with the dream without the implementation—you are left with nothing. Thus, dreams and reality are two separate things, and we have brought on the reality. … We made a promise, we are keeping it, we are implementing,” Netanyahu said.

The roughly $50 billion project, which is expected to carry up to two million passengers a day, will be operational in a decade and a half.

The Metro network will include three main lines spanning about 100 miles, with 109 underground stations across 24 local authorities in central Israel, from Kfar Saba and Ra’anana north of Tel Aviv to Rehovot and Lod to its south.

The subway system will connect to the Tel Aviv Light Rail, whose first line was inaugurated two years ago.

“This project will change Israel’s transportation map and place us among the world’s leading infrastructure initiatives,” Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev said at the ceremony.

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