[2] After numerous delays concerning the security and safety of the line, it eventually opened on August 18, 2023 with a 100,000+ daily ridership over just 8 hours of operation.

It starts at Petah Tikva's Central Bus Station, east of Tel Aviv and follows Jabotinsky Road (Route 481) westwards at street level.

At the point where Jabotinsky Road and Highway 4 intersect the line drops into a tunnel for 11 km (6.8 mi)[4] and emerges to street level again just before Jaffa, where it turns southwards towards Bat Yam and also serves Bloomfield Stadium.

In December 2006, the concession to build and operate the Red Line was awarded to the Metropolitan Transportation Solution (MTS) Consortium, which consisted of Africa Israel Investments, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), Soares da Costa (Portugal), the Egged Bus Cooperative, Siemens, and the Dutch transportation company HTM.

As a result, NTA published a tender for the design of multiple launching shafts for the TBMs that would dig the 11 km of tunnels for the railway.

On January 12, 2012, NTA published a pre-qualify (PQ) bid for the design-build contract for excavating the Red and Green lines' tunnels to be performed by several TBMs operating simultaneously.

NTA, the Government body responsible for the mass-transit development in the Tel Aviv region has spent several years performing utility relocation and right-of-way clearing for the railway.

in Petah Tikva into a sunken passage below Kaplan St.[12] As part of the preparatory works for the line, the main entrance to the Batei HaOsef museum in south Tel Aviv was cleared and relocated.

[13] In September 2011, work started on constructing three launching shafts for the TBMs[14] In May 2015, the companies Solel Boneh and China Railway Tunnel Group won the 2.9 Billion NIS tender to build two 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) tunnels and 6 underground stations in the western section of the Tel Aviv light rail's red line.

[15] In June 2015, the companies Danya Cebus and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) won the 700 Million NIS tender to build underground Carlebach station of the Tel Aviv light rail's red line.

[17] The companies were desperately trying to fix this major issue that lead to severe delays to the lines opening date.

This is for the purpose of detailed planning of a route from Bat Yam to the Rishon LeZion - Moshe Dayan train station.