Israel plans to build a rail link from the Mediterranean sea coast to Eilat, which will open up a new trade route between Asia and Europe (Moti Bassok and Daniel Schmil, ‘Israeli cabinet approves construction of high-speed train line between Tel Aviv and Eilat’, Haaretz. com1 Latest update 18:39 05.02.12). Construction of the so-called Red-Med project linking the Mediterranean with the Red Sea through Eilat will take about five years and include the upgrading of existing railway tracks.
The plan is for an electrified railway line capable of supporting speeds up to 300 kilometres per hour, which would mean that the trip between Tel Aviv and Eilat would take less than two and a half hours. The 350 kilometre route will include sixty-three bridges and five tunnels, and carry both passengers and freight.
Rising economic powerhouses China and India have expressed interest in the project and Israel stands to benefit by developing strategic relations and common interests with those countries. Israel’s political stability and advanced economy means that the Red-Med trade route would offer reliability in a volatile region. Goods from Asia could be shipped to Europe without having to go through the Suez Canal, as cargo unloaded in Eilat would then be sent by rail to Israeli ports and on to Europe.
The rail link would also provide many benefits to Israel by developing and extending the existing rail network managed by Israel Railways. Most of the current network is located on the densely-populated Mediterranean coastal plain with inland routes to Jerusalem and Beersheba. Since the 1990s, Israel has steadily expanded her rail system and provided better services in Tel Aviv. This has resulted in significant growth in passenger traffic in the past decade, with about 36 million people travelling by rail in 2010.
Construction of the Red-Med railway will revive the ancient trade route to India, the eastern Tarshish, that existed in the time of Solomon and under later kings (1 Kings 9:26; 10:22; 2 Chronicles 20:36; and see also John Thomas, Elpis Israel, 14th ed. rev. The Christadelphian, 1958, p. 434). Israel may therefore become a vital conduit for trade between east and west as in ancient times. This will bring her further prosperity and affluence, and may be a factor in the support of the ‘merchants of Tarshish’ for Israel at Armageddon, as prophesied by Ezekiel (38:12–13).
References:
‘Israel approv[e]s key rail link of ‘interest’ to India’, Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Israel-approvskey- rail-link-of-interest-to-India/articleshow/11775511.cms ‘Rail transport in Israel’, in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Rail_transport_in_Israel