new connection between Yarkon Railway and Eastern Railway was built, which avoided the need to reverse the train at Rosh HaAyin. The old Rosh HaAyin station thus remained inaccessible to the extended service, and the new Rosh HaAyin North railway station opened on 13 September 2003 at a location about 2 km north of the old one. Since then, Rosh HaAyin South railway station is only used by the freight services between the north of Israel and Lod, in order to bypass the congested Ayalon Railway. Future plans The government of Israel announced plans to revive the Eastern Railway at a projected cost of NIS 8 billion (appx. US$ 2.2 billion), reinstating a service from Haifa via Hadera and Rosh HaAyin to Lod which would bypass the congested Coastal railway. The rebuilt Rosh HaAyin South railway station would be connected to the city with a footbridge over Highway 6. However, the construction is not expected to start before 2020. References Railway stations in Central District (Israel) Defunct railway stations in Israel