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Palestine Railways (P.R.) was a railway company under British control that operated rail services in Palestine during the British Mandate. It began operations in 1920 and ended operations with the declaration of independence in the state of Israel, in 1948. Israel Railways was established on the infrastructure and locomotive power left behind by Palestine Railways. During its operations, Palestine Railways was the biggest single employer in Palestine, employing thousands of Arab and Jewish workers in harmony.

[edit] First Years

Palestine Railways was established on October 1, 1920 and took over the operations of the Palestine Military Railways (PMR) that operated rail services in Palestine since the British invasion in World War I. The company's first general manager, Col. Robert Blake Worsley Holmes was the head of the Palestine Military Railways before taking office.

The headquarters of Palestine Railways were in Haifa, at the historic station first built by the Ottomans, and workshops operated near Haifa, in Kishon, and in Lod. Most of the structures use by the Palestine Railway were originaly built for the Hejaz railway. Situating the railways headquarters in Haifa showed the strategic importance of the city as a crossroads between Trans-Jordan and Syria on North and East, Egypt in the South and the rest of Africa.