بتير: Battir Railway Station 1892 محطة سكة حديد بتير

This is Battir railways station being the sixth station, last but one, on the railway that links Jaffa with Jerusalem. It was constructed by a French company in 1892 during the Ottoman rule. The first passenger trip by train passing through Battir station toward Jerusalem took place at 09:30am, Sunday morning , August 27, 1892, some 118 years ago. The train was carrying the French and the American flags as it passed. It is regarded as the first railway in the Middle East. On that particular date, a great multitude of people from Battir and other neighboring villages gathered in the fields of the village "Jinan Battir" to jubilantly watch the train passing through the village for the first time ever, even before it entered the city of Jerusalem. It is worth mentioning here that Battir station is 10.7km away from Jerusalem, with an altitude of 575m above sea level.