Tag Archives: Citipass

Rail Photo of the Month: February 2021

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Alstom Citadis 302 008Alstom Citadis 302 008

Location: HaDavidka Station, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle: Citipass
Date of Photo: December 16, 2013

Despite the trend of milder winters in the Washington, DC area, scenes such as the one I featured in the Bus Photo of the Month for February 2021 aren’t all that uncommon.  You’ll find plenty of photos of DC transit operations in the snow on this website (as well as others).  On the other hand, significant snow in Jerusalem is a much more uncommon occurrence.  Like Washington, Jerusalem has had more mild winters recently.  Usually, the city would get one dusting of snow each winter, which would grind the Israeli capital to a halt as the city’s snow removal infrastructure borders on non-existent.  After several winters with no snow accumulation at all, there were significant snowstorms in both January and December of 2013.  In this photo, the light rail right-of-way through the center of the city has been cleared to allow train service to resume, mostly by pushing it to the sides of the tracks.  As a result, the accumulation appears to be much larger than the actual 16 to 28 inches (40 to 70 centimeters) that actually fell, but regardless, this photo captured a sight one rarely sees most winters in Jerusalem.  

For more photos of Jerusalem Light Rail Rolling Stock, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: July 2019

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Alstom Citadis 302 020

Alstom Citadis 302 020

Location: Derech Yafo (Jaffa Road) at Shlomtzion HaMalka, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle: Citipass
Date of Photo: June 2, 2016

Summer in Jerusalem means there’s a pretty good chance there’s a festival or two taking place in the evenings, and my favorite of them all is currently ongoing.  The Jerusalem Light Festival, which has taken place each summer since 2009, will be illuminating the Old City of Jerusalem through Thursday evening, July 4.  As a photographer, it is lots of fun to wander through the Old City and around its walls, capturing the dazzling displays which are so different than what one typically sees when traversing these areas any other week of the year.  In 2016, the festival extended down Jaffa Road towards the present day city center, and some of the the light rail trains themselves got in on the fun by having strings of lights placed along their rooflines.  Here is a photo of one of those trains passing by a model Eiffel Tower.  If you’re able to catch one of the remaining nights of the festival, I highly recommend it!

For more photos of the Jerusalem Light Rail, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: January 2018

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Alstom Citadis 302 003

Alstom Citadis 302 003

Location: Hatzanchanim Street, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle: Citipass
Date of Photo: June 2, 2016

Jerusalem has been in the news quite a bit lately.  Despite what you may see in the press, life goes on in what you would likely consider to be a normal way in this extraordinary complex city, and thousands use the city’s public transportation system to travel between home, work, school, shopping, and other destinations.  The light rail line that opened in 2011 is a rolling melting pot used by all the sectors of the city’s population.  At pretty much any time of day at any point along the line, you’ll be crammed in to a car with secular Jews, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, and tourists.  The light rail line serves a variety of different neighborhoods, including the Arab neighborhoods of Shuafat and Beit Hanina, as well as the city center.  While there is a notable security presence and the Alstom Citadis 302 rolling stock used in Jerusalem had some special modifications made to it in the interest of counter-terrorism, aside from a brief service suspension due to safety issues in 2014, incidents of violence on the light rail have been few and far between.  Jerusalem is a fascinating city that should be on your potential traveling destinations for a host of reasons, and if you’re a transit fan, the light rail gives you an additional one.  

For more photos of the Jerusalem Light Rail, please click here. 

Jerusalem Meets Paris

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Alstom Citadis 302 001 on Derech Yafo (Jaffa Road) at Shlomtzion HaMalka, June 2, 2016

The Jerusalem Light Festival has been taking place each summer since 2011.  Each night for just over a week, exhilarating light displays are set up throughout the Old City.  This year, the festival extended up Jaffa Road, the historic main thoroughfare through the newer, western part of the city that now also serves as the right of way for the Jerusalem Light Rail route through the city center.  One of the installations on Jaffa Road was a miniature Eiffel Tower.  Since the light rail operates using French built Alstom Citadis 302 vehicles, it seemed only natural to try getting a photo of the Eiffel Tower replica and a light rail train in the same shot.  This is where my title for the photo, and this post, came from.

Jaffa Road has become a great pedestrian space since road was closed to vehicular traffic and the light rail was constructed on the thoroughfare, so it was difficult to get a shot without pedestrians blocking either the train, the Eiffel Tower model, or both.  Furthermore, the fact it was night meant that I needed to be using settings that ran the risk of a blurry photo if I wasn’t steady while I operated the camera and as the train went by.  (This photo was taken with an ISO speed of 800, a shutter speed of 1/50 second, and an f-stop of 3.5.)  Despite the fact it was about midnight when I was there, trains were running fairly frequently, and I had several opportunities to try getting the photo I desired.  This is the best of my attempts, and I think it is quite a good one.

Incidentally, this isn’t my only photo of the light rail with a connection to this year’s light festival.  Several trains had a band of lights installed along their rooflines and I got a few photos of those trains, too.  One of those photos can be seen below.

Alstom Citadis 302 037 on HaTsanhanim between Damascus Gate and Kikar Tzahal, June 2, 2016

For more photos of the Jerusalem Light Rail, please click here.  Oren’s Transit Page also has photos from some of the other cities around the world that operate the Alstom Citadis 302, including Paris, Madrid, and Rotterdam.

 

Rail Photo of the Month: March 2016

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Alstom Citadis 302 039

Alstom Citadis 302 039

Location: Derech Yafo (Jaffa Road) at Yafo-Merkaz Station, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle:  Citipass
Date of Photo: August 19, 2011

After many delays during its construction, the Jerusalem Light Rail opened to the public on August 19, 2011.  Thousands came to check out the line on its first day of operation.  However, prior to opening, many were critical of the impact that the light rail construction had on the Jaffa Road, one of the main streets through Central Jerusalem.  Buses were rerouted and many businesses suffered as the construction wore on along this major thoroughfare.  However, the pain was probably worth the gain.  As seen in this photo, the once congested Jaffa Road has become a well utilized pedestrian mall that is far more pleasant for enjoying a meal at one of the many cafes or restaurants along this stretch.  And the light rail itself is highly utilized and the centerpiece of a much improved transportation network for all of Jerusalem.  The road to get there may have been difficult, but the problematic aspects of the construction have been forgotten as time has gone on.

For more photos of the Jerusalem Light Rail, please click here.