Railways in

Kazakhstan

Raiymbek batyr station on the Almaty Metro

In 1894, the Russian Empire opened a metre gauge railway between Pokrovskaya Sloboda (present day Engels, Russia) and Uralsk (present day Oral), about 130km of which lay within the borders of present day Kazakhstan.

In 1896, part of the Trans-Siberian Railway opened across northern Kazakhstan, a 190km stretch of Russian standard gauge (1520mm) railway. The first section of the first line specifically built to serve the major cities of Kazakhstan opened in 1904, and it is from the opening of this line that Kazakhstan Railways celebrated their centenary in 2004. The new line, like the Trans-Siberian, was of 1520mm gauge and this gauge was used for most subsequent railway development through the 20th century. A few more narrow gauge lines were built, but most were subsequently converted to 1520mm gauge.

On the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Kazakhstan administration inherited a railway system of over 15000km, with international connections to Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Two links with China were completed in the early part of the 21st century, these involving a break of gauge; a third is planned, see below.

A train ferry links the Caspian Sea port of Kuryk with Alat in Azerbaijan. Another ferry is proposed connecting Kuryk with ports in Iran.

In 2025, enhancement works, including double tracking, were completed on the 836km route from the Chinese border crossing at Dostyk to Moyinty in central Kazakhstan. Works on 4 other new or upgraded lines were expected to be completed in 2025 or 2026:

• 836km, linking with central Kazakhstan
• Zhetygen to Kazybek Beka 80km, bypassing the congested centre of Almaty
• Darbaza to Maktaraal 152km. Maktaraal has connections both eastwards and westwards into Uzbekistan, and the new route will bypass the congested border crossing near Saryagash
• Moyinty to Kyzylzhar 323km, linking central to western Kazakhstan
• Bakhta to Ayagoz 297km, connecting a new border crossing with China to the existing main line between Pavlodar and Almaty, providing additional international capacity. The line will be accompanied by a new inland port

• Kazakhstan Railways the national network
• SilkWay Transit independent freight operator
• Qarmet steel plant in Temirtau has an extensive internal rail network, connecting with the national network (Site contains no details of railway)
• Bogatyr coal mine near Ekibastuz has an extensive internal rail network, partly automated, connecting with the national network (Main site contains no details of railway, however there are links to YouTube videos showing railway operations with Kazakh or Russian commentary)
• ASCO Azerbaijan train ferry
• Almaty Children’s Railway former pioneer railway in Central Park, Almaty. About 1.5km, 750mm gauge, diesel hauled with steam outline locomotive (Site in Kazakh and Russian)
• Semey Children’s Railway former pioneer railway in Ostrov Imeni Kirova, Semey. About 1.5km, 750mm gauge. Rebuilt in 2023, now operated with a new diesel locomotive and 3 carriages (No website located at present)
• Karaganda Children’s Railway former pioneer railway in Central Park, Karaganda. About 5km, 750mm gauge, diesel hauled (No website located at present)
• Shymkent Children’s Railway former pioneer railway connecting Abay Park and Dendropark in Shymkent. About 6km, 750mm gauge, diesel hauled. May have ceased operation (No website located at present)
• Almaty Metro (Site in Kazakh and Russian)
• Astana light rail metro (Site in Kazakh and Russian)
• Oskemen trams (No website located at present)
• Pavlodar trams
• Temirtau trams (No website located at present)