Israel Railways is concentrating all efforts on developing the rail network in the country and improving efficiency. Budgetary allotments to the company have been used to repair tracks, renovate existing equipment, and add the most up-to-date models in rail coaches. The accent is on improved service. At the same time, the Ports and Railways Authority has drafted an ambitious development plan - "Railways 2000" - designed to revolutionize the travelling habits of the Israeli public. When the plan is fully implemented, Israel will join the countries in which railways are the major transportation service - handy, low-cost, efficient, comfortable, and safe. The master plan for rail service development encompasses the twin areas of passengers and goods. The target for 2010 is transportation of 40 million passengers and 15 million tons of goods. Passenger service - The plan aims to effect a substantial change in Israel's railway system, to integrate it into the public transport system as a whole. Up-to-date rail technology will be combined with public and private motor transport. Most importantly, the plan is based on the improvement of the existing rail network linking Nahariya, Haifa, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem, and on operating commuter lines in Haifa and the Dan conurbation. The plan calls for an environmentally-friendly, electrically operated rail system. The first stage of electrification will be on the commuter lines, and the rest of the system will follow. "Railways 2000's" crowning achievement will be the introduction of metropolitan lines, focused on the central Dan area and on Haifa in the north. The metropolitan system in the center of the country will be comprised of lines to Netanya, Herzliya, Petach Tikva, Rosh Ha-Ayin, Hod Ha-Sharon, Kfar Saba, Lydda (Lod), Rehovot, Ashdod, Rishon Le-Zion, Ben-Gurion International Airport, and Modi'in. The northern metropolitan system will have lines to the Haifa Bay area, Acre, and Nahariya; and, going south, to Carmel Beach and Tirat Ha-Carmel. "Railways 2000" also includes plans to build, together with private entrepreneurs, a multiplex chain of railway platforms, bus and taxi stations, large parking facilities (operating on the park-and-ride system), shops, business premises, restaurants and cafes. All these will transform railway stations into modern transport centers, attracting shopping and leisure activities. Bulk freight transportation - The plan rests on the assumption that Israel is entering an era of peace with her neighbors. In a peace-time situation, this country's place on the economic map of the region is on a vital crossroads. Obviously, a prime necessity will be a first-class rail system for transporting goods, with links to ports and to other transport systems at the national, international and regional level.