Transportation
In the early 20th century, Nablus was the southernmost station of a spur from the Jezreel Valley railway's Afula station, itself a spur from the Hejaz railway. The extension of the railway to Nablus was built in 1911–12. During the beginning of the British Mandate, one weekly train was operated from Haifa to Nablus via Afula and Jenin. The railway was destroyed during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and never rebuilt.
The main Beersheba–Nazareth road running through the middle of the West Bank ends in Nablus. The city is connected to Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Jenin through western offshoots from the main road. Until 2011, Israel maintained checkpoints, such as Huwwara Checkpoint, at the outskirts of Nablus to prevent suicide bombings and smuggling of arms into Israel. The checkpoints were established by Israel after the signing of the Oslo Accords, which gave Palestinians complete authority over the city and its vicinity. From January 2002, buses, taxis, trucks and private citizens required a permit from the Israeli military authorities to leave and enter Nablus.
The nearest airport is the Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Israel, but because of restrictions governing the entry of Palestinians to Israel, residents often travel to Amman, Jordan to use the Queen Alia International Airport. Taxis are the main form of public transportation within Nablus and the city contains 28 taxi offices and garages.
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