Plans for the first section of the Eilat rail link to the south of the country have been approved by the Southern District Planning & Building Committee.

The announcement comes eight years after the railway was initially approved by the government in February 2012, and despite continued delays to decisions regarding plans for the rest of the line.

The initial northern section involves upgrading and double-tracking the existing 35 km line between Be’er Sheva and Dimona, which is primarily used for the transport of ore and phosphates to Ashdod and Haifa. The reintroduction of regular passenger services is intended to improve connections between Be’er Sheva and Dimona and support Dimona’s city centre regeneration plan, with a station planned near the Peretz Centre mall.

The work is to be undertaken by National Roads Company of Israel at cost of about 2·7bn shekels, and ridership is estimated at 5·2 million passengers/year by 2030.

This is planned as the first stage of a larger project to build a railway linking Ashdod to Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba. Estimated to cost around 24·6bn shekels, the project includes passenger stations at Be’er Sheva, Dimona, Sapir, Ketura-Ramon and Eilat, four freight terminals and eight loops for freight traffic.

Some sections of the route would have a longer but less steeply graded alignment for freight trains, so the route would be 260 km long for freight trains but only 240 km for passenger services.