Public transport on Shabbat and holidays

Transport on Friday and Saturday

Sunday through Thursday are considered weekdays in Israel, while Friday and Saturday comprise the weekend. The Shabbat (W) starts a few minutes before sunset on Friday and lasts for about 25 hours until Saturday after sunset.

Most transport in Israel does not run during the Shabbat, as well as on some Jewish holidays. Normally, frequencies on Fridays are slightly lower than on weekdays, and all service ends around 14:00 - 17:00 (depending on the time of sunset). On Saturdays the service partially resumes around 17:00 - 21:00. Saturday evening, when transport traffic resumes, is called Motz'ei Shabbat (W). Many bus lines are inactive during this time.

As bus schedule is normally published only a few days ahead, it is difficult to plan your trip months in advance with respect to the times of the Shabbat. But this is true not only for the Shabbat: any changes in bus and train service are almost never published more than a few days in advance.

Exceptions

Some transport services work during the Shabbat. These are:

  • Several urban and suburban bus lines in Haifa, Nazareth, Natzrat-Illit and Eilat work on Saturday all day with a reduced schedule.
  • Night buses in the North of Israel run on Friday night. These include all night buses between Haifa, Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Motzkin, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Ata, Afula, Yokneam, Kiryat Tiv'on, Ramat Yishay, Nesher, Tirat Carmel, Isfiya and Daliyat al-Karmel.
  • Some intercity bus lines between Tel Aviv and the North of Israel, between Jerusalem and Haifa, buses to and from Eilat, and some urban buses in Greater Tel Aviv start operation on Saturday a few hours before sunset.
  • Several lines of Moniyot sherut (shared taxis) work during the Shabbat. Some shared taxis work 24/7.

Partial list of transport active during the Shabbat (Hebrew)

Transport on Israeli holidays

The Friday schedule generally applies for holiday eves of the main Jewish holidays: Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot (eves of 1st day and 8th day), Passover (eves of 1st day and 7th day) and Shavuot.
The Saturday schedule generally applies for holidays: Rosh HaShanah (2nd day), Yom Kippur, Sukkot (1st day and 8th day), Passover (1st day and 7th day) and Shavuot.
On Memorial Day, Independence Day and Election Day special schedules apply.

Here are the dates of the holidays until the end of 2012, and some notes about public transport service on these special dates:

2011

  • Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year):
    • Wednesday, September 28th, 2011: Friday schedule.
    • Thursday and Friday, September 29th and 30th, 2011: No buses or trains.
    • Saturday, Septermber 31st, 2011: Saturday schedule.
  • Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement):
    • Friday, October 7th, 2011: Friday schedule; all service will end around 14:00.
    • Saturday, October 8th, 2011: Some service will resume in the evening based on Saturday schedule, but trains will not run.
    • Note that during Yom Kippur there is no traffic in most parts of Israel except for emergency vehicles.
  • Sukkot and Simchat Torah:
    • Wednesday, October 12th, 2011: Friday schedule.
    • Thursday, October 13th, 2011: Saturday schedule (but some buses which normally run on Saturday may not be active).
    • Friday, October 14th to Tuesday, October 18th: during Chol ha-Moed buses and trains run on normal schedule according to the day of the week; slight changes are possible.
    • Wednesday, October 19th, 2011: Friday schedule.
    • Thursday, October 20th, 2011: Saturday schedule (but some buses which normally run on Saturday may not be active).

2012

  • Pesakh (Passover):
    • Friday, April 6th, 2012: Friday schedule.
    • Saturday, April 7th, 2012: Saturday schedule (but some buses which normally run on Saturday may not be active).
    • Sunday, April 8th to Wednesday, April 11th: during Chol ha-Moed buses and trains run on normal schedule according to the day of the week; slight changes are possible.
    • Thursday, April 12th, 2012: Friday schedule.
    • Friday, April 13th, 2012: No buses or trains.
    • Saturday, April 14th, 2012: Saturday schedule.
  • Yom ha-Zikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom ha-Atzmaut (Independence Day):
    • Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 to Thursday, April 26th, 2012: A special schedule for these days will be published a few days in advance on the operators' websites and in Call Kav. On Independence Day transport service starts late in the morning, frequencies are low and many bus lines are inactive.
  • Shavuot:
    • Friday, May 25th, 2012: Friday scehdule.
    • Saturday, May 26th, 2012: No buses or trains.
    • Sunday, May 27th, 2012: Saturday schedule (but some buses which normally run on Saturday may not be active).
  • Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year):
    • Monday, September 17th, 2011: Friday schedule.
    • Tuesday, September 18th, 2011: No buses or trains.
    • Wednesday, Septermber 19th, 2011: Saturday schedule.
  • Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement):
    • Tuesday, September 25th, 2011: Friday schedule; all service will end around 14:00.
    • Wednesday, September 26th, 2011: Some service will resume in the evening based on Saturday schedule, but trains will not run.
    • Note that during Yom Kippur there is no traffic in most parts of Israel except for emergency vehicles.
  • Sukkot and Simchat Torah:
    • Sunday, September 30th, 2011: Friday schedule.
    • Monday, October 1st, 2011: Saturday schedule (but some buses which normally run on Saturday may not be active).
    • Tuesday, October 2nd to Saturday, October 6th: during Chol ha-Moed buses and trains run on normal schedule according to the day of the week; slight changes are possible.
    • Sunday, October 7th, 2011: Friday schedule.
    • Monday, October 8th, 2011: Saturday schedule (but some buses which normally run on Saturday may not be active).
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