A committee at the District Building Center in Jerusalem’s Interior Ministry approved on Sunday a plan to extend the route of the Jerusalem Light Rail to Giv’at Sha’ul.

The route introduced would extend from the corner of Herzl St. and Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda St. and extend along Kanfei Nesharim, until the entrance to Har Nof, according to the new plan. The new track will be 1.5 km long and include four new stops. 

The committee made the decision after several objections were filed – and rejected on grounds that the Light Rail’s expansion has unprecedented potential for improving Jerusalem’s advancement and infrastructure.

Committee officials maintain that by strengthening the transportation available to Har Nof, the areas near the neighborhood – including Givat Sha’ul and Kiryat Moshe – will benefit from a boost to their industrial areas and will gain greater access to cultural and educational resources elsewhere. Givat Shau’l is already an industrial center, the plan notes, and could benefit from transportation which would bring more employees, clients, and consumers to the area.

The Light Rail currently runs from the outskirts of Jerusalem, past Pisgat Ze’ev, to the Har Herzl military cemetery close to the entrance of the city. Other proposed extensions include a 22 kilometer-long line to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center.