The population of Jerusalem enthusiastically celebrated the arrival today of the first train to make the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem run since the declaration of Israel’s independence on May 4, 1948.
The train pulled into the crowded Jerusalem station at exactly noon. In the flag-bedecked station were hundreds of prominent guests, including members of the Cabinet, led by Premier David Ben Gurion, members of the Jewish Agency executive, as well as local officials. Minister of Communications David Remez rode with the train from Tel Aviv. Steel-helmeted Army escort contrasted strangely with the flowers and banners which were scattered over the entire train.
Addressing the crowd in the station, Premier Ben Gurion promised that “what is now in Tel Aviv will soon be in Jerusalem”. The crowd applauded wildly after this statement, as it did after another reference by the Premier to Jerusalem as “out eternal capital”. He called the railroad “a new powerful link in the chain of military, political and economic endeavors to redeem Jerusalem”.
Pointing out that the Arab invaders’ bent their greatest efforts to destroying and capturing Jerusalem, Premier Ben Gurion recalled that the Arabs had “spared no effort, and with fire and blood attempted to uproot Jewish Jerusalem and frustrate the fight for Jewish independence. He spoke of the invaders’ attempts to cut the roads around Jerusalem and starve the city’s population into submission, as well as the destruction of many of its Holy Places — a deed which, the Premier declared, even Hitler had feared to do.
In his greetings to the people of Jerusalem, Minister Remez disclosed that a third link — an air line — would soon be established between Jerusalem and the rest of Israel. “This triple link — road, rail and air — will never fail Jerusalem,” he pledged. Mayor Daniel Auster revealed that the train had brought food supplies for the city as well as some 70,000 books rescued from the Nazis in Europe. The books are consigned to the Hebrew University.
With the reopening of the railroad, food costs have already dropped and are expected to go still lower. Daily freight runs are scheduled, as well as passenger service, as long as the security situation continues good.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
