Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz has announced that for a period of three months, residents of Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim and area regional councils will be able to ride the train to any location in Israel and back home free of charge.

The minister’s announcement coincides with the opening of a train station in Sderot as part of stepping up commuter service between Beersheva and Ashkelon.

Katz added that at the end of 2014 he hopes to have Netivot and Ofakim connected to the railway service too, a project that will cost over 2 billion NIS.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)