When the Moshe Dayan train station opened along Israel’s Ayalon Highway in 2011, it introduced new rail routes between the rapidly developing city of Rishon LeZion and Tel Aviv. The Israel Ministry of Transportation has now approved a major expansion—developed by Ayalon Highways, and designed and planned by HQ Architects and SOM, with planning led by the Ministry of Transport in cooperation with Rishon LeZion Municipality—that will transform the station into a multimodal transportation hub for the region.

“The Moshe Dayan Transportation Hub will stitch together parts of Israel that have not been connected before,” said SOM Principal and Transportation Practice Leader Marla Gayle. “It will become a centerpiece of the country’s larger transit network, both by expanding existing lines and by linking new modes of transportation currently in the works. With multiple lines converging to this one spot, this project sets the stage for creating a dense, sustainable neighborhood.”

The new hub will bring the Israel Railways heavy rail, Gush Dan light rail, and multiple bus routes together—a key interchange on the Ayalon Highway in Rishon LeZion. It will serve as both a transfer point and a terminal, and will include a convenient connection to the business districts and residential areas around it, becoming an urban center in itself.

“We are excited that the new Moshe Dayan Transportation Hub has received the green light by the Ministry of Transportation,’’ said Erez Ella, Founding Partner of HQ Architects. “The 120,000-square-meter scheme will transform the existing railway station into a well-integrated intermodal transportation hub, and enhance the neighborhood’s connectivity. It will also provide high quality public spaces and recreational facilities that, together with various mixed use buildings, will accommodate the area’s growth. The hub will be a public transportation landmark for Israel and will help improve the quality and use of urban transportation services, as well as connect both sides of the city of Rishon LeZion.’’

HQ Architects is serving as the Lead Architect on the project in collaboration with SOM, who is serving as the International Transportation Architect. The plan envisions a public plaza that will tie each mode of transit and the future developments together, offering expansive pedestrian, bicycle, and scooter pathways that will bring people to the station from all directions. These public spaces will be supported by a complex work of structural engineering—a large overbuild platform above the highway that will create land where none existed before.

Once completed, the Moshe Dayan Transportation Hub will connect the city to the west while providing much-needed connectivity to and for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area to the north. And for local residents and visitors, the hub and its plaza will provide a central gathering place, bringing a vast public space to this part of Rishon LeZion for the first time.