PM snips ribbon during opening ceremony at Red Line terminus in Petah Tikva, as hundreds rally outside; Tel Aviv mayor boycotts event

Disruptions to continue throughout the day; anti-government protest leaders allege police closing off roads to limit demonstrations against the PM

Miri Regev is met with cries of 'shame' in Jaffa as she tests light rail before public opening Friday; protesters decry train's closure on Shabbat in secular city

Store owners fear their livelihood will evaporate as section of Allenby Street leading to main Carmel Market to close to traffic for construction on transportation system

Transportation Ministry says final safety authorizations granted by firms in Germany, allowing Red Line to start chugging through Israel's congested economic heart

Transportation Ministry gives steep cuts in cost of monthly passes to residents of geographic and socioeconomic peripheral areas, including Jerusalem, most Haredi and Arab towns

Line will run from the eastern part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area via Ramat Gan and Givatayim to the city center

European Investment Bank allocates €150 million for water facility plus €500m in Bank Leumi credit to encourage green business projects, and assesses €250m for Tel Aviv light rail

Transportation minister says she will take major project away from firm currently constructing both systems, saying it has run over budget and missed deadlines on overground lines

Over 1,000 members of security and emergency services, hundreds of mock victims participate in exercise at three locations along soon-to-open transport system