* The project is located on #2 - both shadowed-black lines.

Location
Wadi Rababe (Valley of Hinnom); the Old City; Silwan

Initiator
Ministry of Transportation.

Project Description
In February 2020, the National Infrastructure Committee approved a plan for a railway route to the “Western Wall”. The plan was promoted by Yisrael Katz, and later Bezalel Smotrich, when they were Ministers of Transportation, despite objections from professionals at the ministry, and was initially rejected by the committee. The plan’s later approval came after pressure from the Ministry of Transportation and settler organizations.

The railway route includes a strip under the Silwan neighborhood, parallel to the Old City wall. Dozens of Palestinian homes are located above this route. These houses will be trapped between the underground train and the Cable Car, planned to be built above them. The infrastructure required for these projects will undoubtedly have an impact on them.
In addition, implementing the plan will further damage scores of Palestinian houses in Silwan, as it intends to enable extensive connections to the “City of David” and the Elad Settlers’ Association’s sporadic settlements. The project will also destroy the archeology in the area of the station at the “Western Wall” and damage “Ein Umm Al-Daraj” (Gihon Spring) near the route.

Status
Initial planning phase.

Approving Entity
The National Infrastructure Committee approved the plan in February 2020.

Objections
Israel Nature and Parks Authority; Emek Shaveh; ACAP.

Implementation
An internal document of the Ministry from 2020 suggested the plans for such a train will remain on paper. However, in May 2023, Miri Regev, the current Minister of Transportation, announced that she had commissioned a feasibility study for implementing the plan.

The map from: https://emekshaveh.org/en/the-planned-cable-car-and-train/