Late‑night Jerusalem run when the train is down
Egged Bus 423 sits in a weird niche between Ben Gurion Airport (Terminals 1 and 3) and the Jerusalem corridor: people talk about it when the airport train isn’t running and sherut prices look steep, but most Reddit regulars say they still default to sherut or rail if they have bags.
Route 423 is run by Egged as an intercity line toward Jerusalem and nearby suburbs, and that’s the first catch: not every timetable variant actually goes into the airport access road, some only serve stops along Highway 1 near the airport perimeter.
Because of that routing quirk, you may have to walk several hundred meters from a highway bus stop on Route 1 to the airport access road if you try to use 423 in the “wrong” direction, which multiple r/Israel and r/Jerusalem comments describe as a hassle with luggage.
Journey time is highly variable and not officially advertised from TLV: if you start from a highway stop near the airport, you’re looking at roughly 40–60 minutes toward Jerusalem in light traffic, but rush‑hour on Highway 1 can double that.
Pricing data is patchy in English and changes with national tariff updates; assume a standard intercity Egged fare in the range of other Tel Aviv–Jerusalem buses (roughly the same ballpark as a regular city‑to‑city ride of about 15–25 ILS), and keep a few extra shekels loaded on a Rav‑Kav or phone app just in case.
Frequency also shifts by day and schedule period: expect roughly every 30–60 minutes at peak times and less often late at night or on Fridays, with service stopping entirely between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening because of Shabbat rules.
Regulars on r/Jerusalem say they only look at 423 when both the airport train and the usual Jerusalem sherut setups are disrupted, or when they already happen to be staying in a town on the 423 route rather than flying directly in or out of TLV.
Watch out for inconsistent information: some English‑language sites list “Ben Gurion Airport” as a fixed stop for 423, while rider reports on Reddit from 2019–2020 describe missing airport stops, last‑minute route variants, and confusion about exactly where to stand.
If you truly want to use 423 from the airport side, the play is: check the live schedule on Egged’s site or app within 24 hours of travel, confirm the stop name includes “Ben Gurion” and not just Highway 1, and have a Plan B (train or sherut) ready if that specific variant doesn’t appear.
- Step 1: Before landing, load the Egged app or website and search for route 423 between “Ben Gurion Airport” and your Jerusalem‑area stop on your exact travel date.
- Step 2: Check that the stop description includes the airport and not only “Route 1 / access road”; if it lists just a highway stop, assume you’ll be walking several hundred meters with bags.
- Step 3: Compare timing against the airport train to Jerusalem‑Yitzhak Navon and sherut prices; if the difference is under about 10–15 ILS, most flyers on Reddit say skip 423 and pay for the simpler option.
- Step 4: If you still pick 423, load enough credit onto a Rav‑Kav or payment app for at least 25 ILS, since drivers on intercity Egged lines generally don’t love handling confused cash transactions with tourists.
- Step 5: At the curb outside Terminal 3, follow signs for intercity buses and confirm the route number on the bus front display; if 423 doesn’t show within 15–20 minutes of the planned time, bail out and head for the train or sherut stands instead.
One last tip: screenshot the Hebrew stop names for route 423 before you go, since drivers and apps often use only Hebrew, and showing the text on your phone is faster than trying to pronounce it after a long flight.