Getting around Haifa: Carmelit, Metronit, cable cars and trains

Haifa is built on a mountain, so its transport is unusual. Beit Ole sums it up: the upper neighbourhoods are linked to the lower city by cable car, the Carmelit is in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's shortest underground metro, and the Metronit runs even on Shabbat.

Trains

• Israel Railways serves six Haifa stations: Bat Galim, Hof HaCarmel, Haifa Center HaShmona, Merkazit HaMifratz (with separate platforms for the Jezreel Valley line), Hutzot HaMifratz and Kiryat Haim (Ministry of Transport GTFS for Thursday 8 October 2026).
• Hof HaCarmel and HaShmona each had 188 trains that weekday. Direct trains run to Nahariya, Karmiel, Beit She'an, Atlit, Modi'in Center and Be'er Sheva, and coastal trains run south through Tel Aviv.
• Timetables and journey planning: Israel Railways (opens in a new tab). Trains do not run on Shabbat.

Carmelit (underground funicular)

• The Carmelit, Israel's only underground railway, climbs from Downtown (Paris Square) through Hadar to Carmel Center in under 8 minutes, with six stations: Downtown, Hadar City Hall, HaNevi'im, Masada, Bnei Zion Hospital and Carmel Center.
• Hours: Sun-Thu 06:00-24:00; Fri and holiday eves 06:00-15:00; after Shabbat from 20:00 in summer and 19:00 in winter. Trains run every 12 minutes on weekdays (Carmelit (opens in a new tab)).
• It has stairs and slopes and is not wheelchair-accessible.

Rakbalit (urban cable car)

• The Rakbalit runs about 4.4 km from the Merkazit HaMifratz interchange to the Technion (about 10 minutes) and the University of Haifa (about 19 minutes).
• It costs the single Haifa fare (NIS 8 from 1 July 2025); Haifa passes and 90-minute transfers are valid, and it runs on Motzaei Shabbat (Cable Express (opens in a new tab)).
• Personal Rav-Kav cards can be issued at the Technion Center station office.

Tourist cable car

A separate five-minute cable car runs from the Bat Galim promenade up to Stella Maris, daily 08:30-19:00 weather permitting; operator prices NIS 35 return, NIS 25 one way (cable car (opens in a new tab)). It is a tourist ride, not part of the Rav-Kav network.

Metronit and buses

• The Metronit bus rapid transit, run by Superbus, has line 1 (Hof HaCarmel central station to the Krayot terminal, about every 5 minutes on a weekday), line 2 (Bat Galim station to Kiryat Ata), line 3 (a Krayot loop) and line 5 (Yagur - Nesher - Haifa).
• Most city lines are run by Egged. The two main terminals are Hof HaCarmel (with the train station) and Merkazit HaMifratz (trains, Metronit, city and intercity buses and the Rakbalit).
• Plan with bus.gov.il (opens in a new tab) or Moovit; pay with a Rav-Kav card (Rav-Kav Online (opens in a new tab)) or a payment app.

Shabbat

Haifa has partial bus service on Shabbat. On a sample Shabbat (19 September 2026, 10:00-16:00) the GTFS showed regular trips on Metronit lines 1 and 5a (Superbus), Egged lines 14, 18, 23, 23a, 25, 28, 37, 37a, 40, 79 and 245, and lines 331 and 332. Trains and the Carmelit do not run on Shabbat.

Rav-Kav service points

Rav-Kav service centres include the Carmelit Carmel Center station, Merkazit HaMifratz, the Hof HaCarmel terminal, 76 HaGalil St (Neve Sha'anan) and 2 Ibn Sina St (gov.il branch locator). Beit Ole says a card can be issued with a teudat oleh or teudat zehut, with discounts for children, pensioners and people with disabilities.

By sea to Akko

The Queen of Akko boat sails between Haifa Port Gate 5 on HaAtzmaut Rd, next to HaShmona station, and the tourist pier at Akko marina; tickets are bought for each direction separately (ferry operator (opens in a new tab)).

Driving and walking

64% of Haifa households own at least one car. Licence conversion is at two Ministry of Transport offices, by appointment only: I-Way at 271 HaHistadrut Blvd and 18 HaNevi'im St in Hadar (which can't take licence deposits). Haifa has 21 km of marked walking routes and 18 km of cycle routes, and plenty of stairs between neighbourhoods.

What I couldn't check

Israel Railways' site blocked automated checks, so I've used the official GTFS timetable data instead. Check rail.co.il for your train on the day.

Sources: Ministry of Transport GTFS via the Open Bus Stride API (opens in a new tab) (Hasadna), the operators' sites and Beit Ole.