By Sara Toth Stub
There has been a lot of excitement, complaining and confusion about the new “fast train” to Jerusalem. So we wanted to offer the following tips based on our experience and research:
The first step to taking the new train is to have a RavKav transportation card and to book a voucher for the Jerusalem-Ben Gurion train line online. While the ride is free, you must book a voucher online for a specific time, and you must have a valid RavKav in order to book the voucher. The voucher booking site will ask for the number on the back of your RavKav. While you can book up to three seats, each person over the age of 2 ultimately needs their own RavKav to board. It does not matter if the RavKav is anonymous or personal.
You don’t need to print the voucher, you can just show anyone who asks for it the digital version that is emailed to you.
If you miss the train that you have booked the voucher for, don’t panic; the conductors will simply let you take the next train, and they run every 30 minutes.
When you get to the station in Jerusalem (or at Ben Gurion), you must obtain a ticket with your RavKav at a machine. This free ticket, which is either printed for you, or just stored on your RavKav, to ride the train, is required in addition to the voucher you ordered online.
Although the new train ends for now at Ben Gurion Airport, you can then easily transfer from there to other trains and go anywhere in the country. Trains from Ben Gurion go to Tel Aviv, Haifa, Modiin, and many other places. For example, you can now travel by train from Jerusalem to Nahariya on the northern border in just 2.5 hours.
For the next 90 days, train travel anywhere in the country is free as long as you load your RavKav with your desired destination at the ticket machines in the new station in Jerusalem, and start your trip in Jerusalem. Yes, you can go all the way to Nahariya and back for free.
Allow at least 15 minutes to walk from the entrance to the new Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon Station to your train, which requires going down three giant escalators and several long hallways.
Don’t expect a scenic ride. Most of the journey between Jerusalem and Ben Gurion is inside tunnels.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help with ticket machines or timetables or anything else. There are plenty of uniformed customer service employees all over the Jerusalem station who are very friendly and helpful.
Enjoy the free chocolates in train-shaped boxes that employees are giving out to passengers at the Jerusalem station.
