Airport Guides

The Train From Ben Gurion: Fares, Hours, and When It Stops

Updated September 2026 · 4 min read · לגרסה בעברית

The Short Answer

The station is under Terminal 3 and the fare is by distance: ₪11.5 to Tel Aviv or Modiin, ₪21 to Jerusalem, ₪30.5 to Haifa or Beer Sheva, on a Rav-Kav card. It runs frequently by day, thinner at night, and not at all from Friday afternoon to Saturday night. When it is not running, or you are carrying too much, a taxi split between four people costs about the same per person as a ticket.

What It Costs

Israeli public transport prices by distance band, not by route, so the fare depends on how far you go rather than which line you take. These are single-ride Rav-Kav fares from the airport station, with the daytime taxi meter for the same corridor next to them.

Destination	Train	Station	Taxi, day	Taxi split four ways
Tel Aviv	₪11.5	Any Tel Aviv station	₪130 to 160	₪36 each
Jerusalem	₪21	Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon	₪280 to 330	₪76 each
Modi'in	₪11.5	Modi'in Merkaz, direct line	₪135 to 160	₪37 each
Herzliya	₪21	Herzliya station	₪190 to 225	₪51 each
Netanya	₪27	Netanya station	₪290 to 345	₪78 each
Rehovot	₪21	Rehovot station	₪140 to 175	₪39 each
Ashdod	₪21	Ashdod station	₪255 to 305	₪69 each
Beer Sheva	₪30.5	Beer Sheva Center or North	₪515 to 605	₪138 each
Haifa	₪30.5	Haifa Merkaz HaShmona or Hof HaCarmel	₪595 to 695	₪159 each

Train fares are the national distance-band prices for a single ride on a Rav-Kav card. Taxi figures are the regulated meter over the measured road distance. Both checked in September 2026.

Finding the Station

The station sits under Terminal 3, one level down from arrivals, signposted in English from the exit.
You cannot pay cash on the train. Buy a Rav-Kav card at the machines by the gates, load it, and tap through. The machines switch to English and take foreign cards.
Trains toward Tel Aviv and trains toward Jerusalem leave from the same platform level in opposite directions. Read the destination on the platform sign, not the line number.
Keep the card or ticket. You need it again to leave the barrier at the other end.

When It Runs

By day the service is frequent in both directions, and the ride is short: around 11 minutes to Tel Aviv HaHagana and around 25 to Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon. Nights and weekends are where plans go wrong.

Friday and Saturday: service stops in the afternoon before Shabbat and returns on Saturday evening. Holidays and their eves follow the same shape, often with a special timetable announced a few days ahead.
Weekday nights: there is night service, but thinner. The line toward Tel Aviv and the north keeps running into the early hours; the Jerusalem line has long overnight gaps.
Always check the actual departure. Frequencies and night service change several times a year, and specials get added for holidays. The Israel Railways app and Moovit both show the next train from the airport station. A train an hour away is a taxi decision, not a waiting decision.

Train or Taxi

The train is the cheapest way out of Ben Gurion whenever it runs and your destination is near a station. It stops being the obvious answer when the hour is wrong, when the last leg from the station is its own trip with luggage, or when there are enough of you that dividing a taxi lands in the same place. Four people to Tel Aviv pay about ₪36 each on the daytime meter, close to a train ticket, with the door-to-door ride and the bags in the boot.

Full disclosure, this is our site and we built PairMee for that middle case: write your trip in one sentence, see who is landing around the same time going the same way, and approve who joins you. Posting costs nothing, and there are women-only rides for anyone who prefers them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the train from Ben Gurion Airport?

Fares are set by distance band, not by route: ₪11.5 to anywhere within 15 km, which covers all of Tel Aviv and Modiin; ₪21 up to 40 km, which covers Jerusalem, Herzliya and Rehovot; ₪27 up to 75 km; ₪30.5 up to 120 km, which covers Haifa and Beer Sheva. You pay with a Rav-Kav card or a payment app, never cash on board.

Does the train from Ben Gurion run on Shabbat?

No. Service stops on Friday afternoon and comes back on Saturday evening, and the same pattern applies to holidays. The airport itself keeps working, so a taxi is the way out during those hours.

Does the train run at night?

On weekday nights there is service, but not everywhere and not at daytime frequency. The line toward Tel Aviv and the north runs into the early hours; Jerusalem has long gaps overnight. Check the exact departure for your landing time in the Israel Railways app or Moovit before you commit to waiting.

Where is the train station at Ben Gurion?

Under Terminal 3, one level down from arrivals and signposted from the exit. Ticket machines by the gates switch to English, and the same machines sell a Rav-Kav card.

Is the train or a taxi better from the airport?

The train wins on price whenever it runs and your destination is near a station. A taxi wins when you land at night or on Shabbat, when you are carrying more than you want to lift, or when there are enough of you to split it: four people to Tel Aviv pay about the same each as a train ticket, door to door.