The preliminary engineering works on Tel Aviv's new underground rail system began on Sunday.
The first stage of the Red Line is to have seven stations in southern and central Tel Aviv and neighbouring Ramat Gan, and is scheduled to start operating in 2021.
There are plans for the network to extend from Netanya in the north to Rehovot in the south, but the first stage is already running into opposition from business owners who are worried that years of excavations could cost them millions. Ramat Gan's mayor, Yisrael Singer, also opposes the project.