An internal document from NTA, the government company overseeing mass transit in the Tel Aviv area, confirmed the previous report by Walla that the target date of 2034 for opening the metro is no longer realistic. The ongoing war is deterring foreign companies vital to the project from bidding on tenders in Israel, and recruiting foreign workers has also become increasingly difficult.
A year and a half after Walla revealed that NTA officials estimate that the Tel Aviv metro won’t launch before 2040 — six years later than the official target — the company is now preparing to adopt this revised timeline as its official position.
The leaked internal document outlines the implications of formally announcing such a delay. This mirrors a move made last year by NTA’s CEO, Itamar Ben Meir, who disclosed a 1–3 year delay for the opening of the Green and Purple light rail lines. Delays in major infrastructure projects are not unusual, but public authorities often avoid acknowledging them until the very last moment. This time, NTA is trying to break that pattern.
Why are contractors not meeting their goals?
According to the document, in order to meet the original 2034 goal, tenders worth NIS 67 billion (roughly $18 billion USD) for key infrastructure works — including tunnel and station excavation, depot construction, and above-ground street modifications — would need to be issued by 2027. These infrastructure stages are referred to as Infra 1 and 2.
Given the scale and complexity of the work, international collaboration is essential, as has been the case with the light rail projects. But since the outbreak of the war, foreign firms have become hesitant to operate in Israel, either due to security concerns for their personnel or fear of public backlash. Even companies already working on light rail expansions in Israel have pulled out foreign staff for extended periods, leading to delays like those seen in Jerusalem’s light rail extensions.
The document also warns that an official announcement of the delay could complicate land expropriations required for the metro and provoke political fallout, particularly with Transportation Minister Miri Regev. Ironically, some of the delays can be traced back to Regev herself. As an opposition lawmaker, she worked to block the Metro Law (which was eventually passed two years later), and more recently, she has delayed the establishment and staffing of the Metro Authority. She also pushed to postpone approval of the M1 metro line in the Sharon region and demanded its extension to the West Bank.
Postponing the metro's launch to 2040 deals a significant blow to efforts to resolve the severe transportation crisis in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. While the addition of the Green and Purple light rail lines between 2028 and 2030 will finally create a full light rail network in central Israel (alongside the existing Red Line), it will only partially meet demand. That’s why the government decided to build a full underground metro system.
A congestion charge — expected to cost drivers up to NIS 37 ($10) per day to enter central Tel Aviv by car — is also meant to ease traffic and encourage use of public transportation. However, this too faces opposition from Minister Regev and is progressing mainly due to pressure from the Finance Ministry.
