Wikipedia's first sentence called it “built in 1904 by the ottoman authorities as the western terminus of their jezreel valley railway”. Today it says “only place in the world to have direct railway services to three continents”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the October 6, 2023 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Haifa East railway station was built in 1904 by the Ottoman authorities as the western terminus of their Jezreel Valley railway . In the 1920s, under the British Mandate , Palestine Railways extended the Eastern Railway north to connect with the Jezreel Valley railway at Haifa station. At this time, Haifa was the only place in the world to have direct railway services to three continents: Istanbul in Europe , Kantarah in Africa , and Medina in Asia . To this day, the distances on the Israel Railways main line are measured from Haifa East station. As the first railway station in Haifa , it was originally named just "Haifa Station", and changed its name in 1937 when the new Haifa Center railway station opened. Until July 1940, Haifa East railway station housed the head office of Palestine Railways; but in 1940, citing the unfavourable physical environment in the busy downtown and the physical vulnerability next to the port of Haifa in time of war, the administration started moving its branches into Khoury House at the intersection of Nevi'im st. and Khoury st. During the Battle of Haifa (1948) , Khoury House was burnt down together with all records of Palestine Railways; due to this, the headquarters of the emerging Israel Railways were established at Haifa Center railway station . The original station building at Haifa East was heavily damaged by an Irgun bombing on 20 September 1946, and only a small part of it is preserved. Currently, it houses some Israel Railways offices; the five-track former engine shed , situated across the tracks from the station building and built in c.1918, houses the Israel Railway Museum ; and the station itself is used as a marshalling yard and a stabling point .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1166264410.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Haifa East railway station was built in 1904 by the Ottoman authorities as the western terminus of their Jezreel Valley railway . In the 1920s, under the British Mandate , Palestine Railways extended the Eastern Railway north to connect with the Jezreel Valley railway at Haifa station. At this time, Haifa was the only place in the world to have direct railway services to three continents: Istanbul in Europe , Kantarah in Africa , and Medina in Asia . To this day, the distances on the Israel Railways main line are measured from Haifa East station. As the first railway station in Haifa , it was originally named just "Haifa Station", and changed its name in 1937 when the new Haifa Center railway station opened. Until July 1940, Haifa East railway station housed the head office of Palestine Railways; but in 1940, citing the unfavourable physical environment in the busy downtown and the physical vulnerability next to the port of Haifa in time of war, the administration started moving its branches into Khoury House at the intersection of Nevi'im st. and Khoury st. During the Battle of Haifa (1948) , Khoury House was burnt down together with all records of Palestine Railways; due to this, the headquarters of the emerging Israel Railways were established at Haifa Center railway station . The original station building at Haifa East was heavily damaged by an Irgun bombing on 20 September 1946, and only a small part of it is preserved. Currently, it houses some Israel Railways offices; the five-track former engine shed , situated across the tracks from the station building and built in c.1918, houses the Israel Railway Museum ; and the station itself is used as a marshalling yard and a stabling point .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 959885819.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “built in 1904 by the ottoman authorities as the western terminus of their jezreel valley railway”. Today it says “only place in the world to have direct railway services to three continents”. Read the current article and compare.
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2020, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
built in 1904 by the ottoman authorities as the western terminus of their jezreel valley railway
Now
only place in the world to have direct railway services to three continents
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
