|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/29/us-israel-railway-idUSTRE80S0KC20120129
Israel Plans Red-Med Rail Link to Take Suez Overflow
(Reuters) Dan Williams - Israel said on Sunday it plans to build a railway line linking its Red Sea and Mediterranean ports that could handle potential overflow from the Suez Canal on the freight route between Asia and Europe. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet the idea had stirred "great interest" from India and China. Oded Eran, a retired Israeli diplomat and senior research fellow at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said, "Going through Suez costs a lot of money in demurrage," describing the time-consuming process of ships obtaining permission to enter the canal and transiting. Asked if the Israeli project might bite into Egyptian revenues from tariffs to sail the Suez, an Israeli official said: "We do not in any way intend to do anything of the sort." Samech Nabil, consul-general for the Egyptian embassy in Israel, said, "I think this is purely an internal issue."