Please pray for the effective operation of the newly opened electric train line between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem which is expected to complete its run in just a fourth of the time (less than a half hour) that the old train took.

An early account of the old train line between Tel Aviv was written by Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism back in 1898! Back then, it was the only one in this part of the Ottoman Empire. For Herzl, the old train was terrible in comparison to the especially nice Orient Express of his day. “It took an hour merely to leave the Jaffa station,” he wrote. “Sitting in the cramped, crowded, burning-hot compartment was pure torture.” Among his many dreams for a future Jewish state (which was established some 50 years after this train ride) Herzl dreamt of a network of electric rails. The new train, now 120 years later, is Israel’s first electric line.

Nonetheless, approvals and safety measures and maintenance are all a night are and have led to numerous delays on completion of the line until this year and even now maintenance teams must do a great deal of work to address concerns as they become apparent. Please pray for those working on this new rail line, as well as for Israeli roadways to grow increasingly less crowded as public transportation becomes cheaper and more enjoyable.