ALMATY RAIL HUB
KTZ carried 13.3 million passengers in 2025 and set a transit record of 33 million tonnes; Almaty-2 is the showpiece terminal, the Tashkent train now runs daily, and 10 tourist trains were launched in a single year.
The city keeps two terminals: Almaty-1, 20 minutes northeast, handling most through trains, and Almaty-2, the Stalin-era showpiece under the mountains, where the prestige trains begin. The network’s flagship is the daily Talgo to Astana (~12–13 hours overnight); the Tashkent train — extended in 2025 to Bukhara and Samarkand as a tourist product — went daily, and direct carriages to Moscow resumed via Russian Railways connections. KTZ carried 13.27 million passengers in 2025 (−3.9% as road and air take share), but revenues rose 16.9% to ₸129.2 billion; 191 new coaches arrive in 2026, and ten tourist trains — a category that barely existed here — were launched in one year.
The numbers that justify the network are cargo: a record 33 million tonnes of transit in 2025 (+20.3%), Dostyk–Moyynty second tracks and the Almaty bypass quintupling corridor capacity, Khorgos running a record 8,165 China–Europe trains (+6.3%). The World Bank’s $846-million guarantee (February 2026) for KTZ modernization — mobilizing $1.41 billion — is the financial signature of the corridor decade. For the passenger the consequence is practical: more track works, occasional timetable shifts, and a booking window that rewards planning ahead on bilet.railways.kz.
THE TIO READ
Take the Tashkent sleeper south and the Talgo north — Kazakhstan is one of the last countries where the overnight train is still the default long-distance answer. Buy kupe on the Talgo for the Astana run; the platzkart is a cultural experience priced accordingly. In summer, book a week ahead: the fleet runs full.
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