Jerusalem,  Israel's rail service has halted due to a nationwide train signaling failure, state-owned Israel Railways said in a statement.

Train operations would remain closed until Sunday morning at the earliest, the company added in a statement on Saturday.

Operations were stopped overnight due to safety concerns brought by the fault in the train traffic signaling system, the company noted, adding its engineers, together with signaling experts, are working to repair the fault.

They will carry out comprehensive tests to make sure the system becomes stable, it added.

On Saturdays, passenger trains in Israel only run during evening and night hours, as Saturday is Israel's weekly day of rest, Xinhua news agency reported.

The function of the computerised signaling system is to manage train traffic and ensure the safety of all journeys