JERUSALEM, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Israel's transport minister says plans are under way to construct a railway line in the West Bank that will eventually link up to the Gaza Strip.
Transport Minister Yisrael Katz revealed the plans at a meeting this week with Likud Party supporters, a press release said.
The plan calls for a rail track to be constructed from east to west, from Rosh Ha'ayin in Israel via Ariel to Nablus in the West Bank, and between Ramallah in the West Bank and Latroun in Israel.
There, passengers would link up to main lines serving the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv areas.
A railway track will also be constructed between Jenin in the West Bank and Beersheba in the southern Israel.
Katz told those present at the meeting he hopes to construct a railway track between the Gaza Strip and Yad Mordechai in southern Israel, where passengers will link up to the West Bank railway line or other lines in Israel.
Haaretz reported Thursday, Israel Railway has already invested more than $700,000 in the planning stages of the first section of the train line between Rosh Ha'ayin and Nablus.
During a visit in the West Bank earlier this year, Katz said the railway would link the historic Valley Train to Haifa and the Jerusalem line, the newspaper said.
The Valley Train refers to a railway track inaugurated in 1905, which ran from Haifa to Damascus where it linked up with the Hejaz Railway to Medina in the Arabian Peninsula, the newspaper said.
