Map of the Kazakhstan railway. Railways of Kazakhstan

"Trains in these parts ran from east to west and from west to east.
And on the sides of the railway in these parts lay great desert spaces - Sary-Ozeki, the Middle Lands of the Yellow Steppes. In these parts, any distances were measured in relation to the railway, as from the Greenwich meridian. And the trains went from east to west and from west to east..." - perhaps the most famous lines of the most famous book in Kazakhstan, “And the day lasts longer than a century...” by Chingiz Aitmatov. And although they were written several decades ago, hardly anything has changed in the remote steppes. The extent of Kazakhstan railways at first glance are not so large - about 15 thousand kilometers, less than in Ukraine - but in a huge and deserted country railway- not only transport, but also a frame. KTZ ("Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" - that is, "Railways of Kazakhstan") occupies almost a more prominent place here than in Russia Russian Railways, and one hundred and fifty thousand people work for it - that is, almost every hundredth resident of Kazakhstan.

About the history of KTZ and their features, including in comparison with Russian Railways - in a combined post based on materials from several trips: I spent probably a couple of weeks of pure time in the carriages of Kazakhstani trains.

It’s hard to imagine now, but the Kazakh steppe first heard a locomotive whistle a little over a century ago. In 1894, the Ryazan-Ural road, which had been growing for almost 30 years, finally reached its furthest point: a branch to Uralsk, the largest city at that time in the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, was extended from Saratov, or rather the current one on the other side of the Volga. The oldest station in Kazastan could have looked like this - but has not survived:

2a.

In 1896, the Trans-Siberian Railway passed through Petropavlovsk - and there the old station next to the new, larger one is still standing - and apparently this is the oldest station in Kazakhstan:

And only in the twentieth century did the railway finally risk piercing the Great Steppe right through - after all, there was nothing in the Steppe at that time, but beyond the Steppe there was rich Turkestan, by that time already penetrated by the military Trans-Caspian railway, and its “capital” Tashkent with population of one hundred thousand. The Orenburg-Tashkent highway was built in 1901-08, and almost its entire length is on the territory of Kazakhstan - 1660 kilometers.

The penultimate great highway Tsarist Russia, it became a real masterpiece both in terms of equipment and station architecture. Moreover, there were no wars using heavy weapons, so it has been preserved almost in its original form, right down to the colonial interiors:

The Tashkent railway opened access to the ore riches of the Steppe. An interesting artifact associated with it is the English Bridge in a town near Zhezkazgan: in 1909, the British received the right to build a copper smelter there, the equipment to which was transported along a “transfer narrow-gauge railway” from the Dzhusaly station - a section 11 km long was assembled, a train was driven along it, then again was disassembled and reinstalled in front of the locomotive. Now there is no railway here.

Before the revolution, a couple more small lines were built on the peripheries of the future Kazakhstan. So, the Saratov-Astrakhan railway crosses the border several times, but the trains here go non-stop, and to be honest, I could not understand which side we were on at that moment.

In 1915, a line was opened connecting Chelyabinsk on the Trans-Siberian Railway through the rich merchant Troitsk with the young provincial Kustanai. Its small section of Troitsk, by the way, is walked in the same way without stopping:

And here is the view from the bus at one of its stations on the way to Kustanay:

Before the revolution, the construction of the Turkestan-Siberian railway began, which was interrupted Civil War... on the eve of which they managed to build, to this day, the largest railway bridge in Kazakhstan across the Irtysh in Semipalatinsk, beyond which until 1926 the rails abutted a dead end:

It was completed in 1930, passing through Alma-Ata - now the railway reached all pre-revolutionary regional centers and covered the Great Steppe along the far edge.

10. Almaty region, Saryozek-Ushtobe section.

And the next stage was the connection of this circuit with the Trans-Siberian Railway, which began in the 1920-30s. U Soviet power In general, there were huge (and subsequently realized!) plans for the development of the Steppe; it was not for nothing that Kazakhstan was called the “Second Siberia”... although it is no secret that its first builders were the inhabitants of, and. In 1950, trains ran not only “from east to west and from west to east,” but also “from south to north and from north to south,” along the Petropavlovsk - Kokchetav - Akmola (Astana) - Karaganda - Chu highway (connection with Turksib).

11. Karaganda.

In general, in the 1950s, the length of Kazakhstan’s railways doubled, a second “horizontal” appeared through Akmola and Pavlodar and many dead-end and intermediate branches - to the copper (1954), bauxite (1964), to the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site... By 1960- m years, the “framework” of Kazakhstan was basically formed, which gave impetus to the Development of Virgin Lands, but the construction of railways in Kazakhstan continued all this time and continues to this day (for example, the flow of Alma-Ata - Khorgos into China or Zhezkazgan-Beineu).

12. Furmanov station on the approaches to Astana from the west.

However, due to the fact that the peak of railway construction in Kazakhstan occurred in the era of “the fight against architectural excesses,” Kazakhstan is depressingly poor in interesting station architecture. In fact, it is only on the Tashkent Mainline, and the average Kazakh station looks like this at best, and most likely even more primitive:

13. Small station on the line.

Station square near Sary-Shagan station:

14.

In addition, in the 1970s, the sprawling cities of Kazakhstan were swept by massive reconstruction of stations - so the average station in the regional center is something like this:

15.

Some (Kokchetav, Aktyubinsk, Pavlodar) are interesting at least as examples of late Soviet architecture, but most (Kustanay, Uralsk, Atyrau, Semipalatinsk, Chimkent, Taraz and even Alma-Ata-1) are unbearably dull. Among regional centers pre-revolutionary stations were preserved only in Kyzylorda (as the main one) and Petropavlovsk (as part of the complex), Stalinist ones - in Karaganda and Alma-Ata-2 (the main ones), Pavlodar and Astana (part of the complex). The same station in Uralsk also fell victim to this reconstruction:

16.

Many of these stations have been renovated, such as Alma-Ata-1:

17.

But I remember a completely modern station only in Astana... which, by the way, while still being Tselinograd, turned into the largest railway junction in Kazakhstan:

18.

But still, the true face of KTZ is not city stations, be it in big cities or small ones, but those very “storm stops” past which trains pass without stopping. There are often no villages near them - only the houses of railway workers in the middle of nowhere. They just serve the paths between major cities, remaining only the cogs of the steel frame. Many don't even have station buildings.

19.

20.

21.

And it’s even stranger to think about them when looking at the luxurious KTZ office in Astana, right at these twin towers on the left. This is the third tallest building in the country (40 floors, 174 and 156 meters respectively):

22.

The same towers on the other side during the day. The frame also includes the first and second tallest buildings in Kazakhstan - “Emerald Quarter” (210m, left) and “Northern Lights” (180m, right). KTZ has a cooler office than Russian Railways will have...

23.

For the first time, a single Kazakhstan railway was created in 1958 by combining the Turkestan-Siberian, Orenburg-Tashkent, Karaganda railways and several other sections on the territory of the republic, and became the longest in the USSR (11 thousand km). In 1977, it was again divided into Tselinnaya (Tselinograd), Alma-Ata and West Kazakhstan (Aktyubinsk), but KTZ, a state monopoly similar to the pre-reform Russian Railways, was formed after the collapse of the Union.
Now, as already mentioned, the total length of Kazakhstan’s railways is 15 thousand kilometers (1/3 of them are electrified, slightly less than half are double-track), they account for 68% of the freight turnover and 57% of the country’s passenger turnover. And the local stations do not stand idle - locomotives are constantly scurrying along the tracks, freight trains and passenger trains arrive, and the platforms and waiting rooms are crowded with people in the summer and quite crowded in the winter:

24.

At the same time, KTZ is very strongly integrated with Russian Railways - for example, it has access to the Express-3 system. Moreover, there is even territorial interpenetration - for example, the section of the Trans-Siberian Railway with Petropavlovsk belongs to the South Ural Railway Russian Railways, and the Sol-Iletsk station in Orenburg region- accordingly, KTZ. However, outwardly, Petropavlovsk and Iletsk are no different from other stations in their countries.

25. Sol-Iletsk, August 2009.

KTZ tickets are almost no different from Russian Railways tickets, except perhaps for the printing of the stations at which the ticket was sold. To convert prices into rubles, divide by 5 and keep in mind that this is a coupe - in Kazakhstan it is cheaper than our reserved seat. There is, however, one catch: Russian Railways sells these tickets at a huge markup, but the solution is simple - KTZ has its own website and electronic ticketing, which is somewhat less convenient than Russian Railways and not for all trains, but still allows you to save a lot. Tickets issued via the Internet are usually received at the box office; terminals are not available everywhere: the website says that in Almaty, Astana and Aktobe, and it was in the latter that I received the ticket:

26.

However, any traveler who has even planned a route around Kazakhstan knows that the real disaster of KTZ are “hares”. For conductors, boarding stowaways is a very good income, and people have no other choice, and on the Internet there are many terrible descriptions of a Kazakh reserved seat carriage, which actually turns into a general one - people ride on the third berths, and on each lower one there is a seated stowaway. Actually, it was these descriptions, which I not only read, but also heard first-hand, that encouraged me to travel around Kazakhstan in a compartment... but I also traveled in a reserved seat, and for some reason I never came across something like this. Many Kazakhs (especially non-Kazakhs) also shrug their shoulders and tell how “we went to Russia a couple of years ago - so we haven’t had such a mess like yours on our railways for a long time!” In general, I don’t know why I didn’t encounter this lawlessness - but in compartment cars, I saw a bunch of people in the corridor, standing and on folding seats, more than once.

27.

And frankly speaking, “we don’t have such a mess” is an extremely doubtful statement. Most often, a KTZ train is a falling apart clunker with dirty, creaky carriages, thick dust in the air and windows tinted from adhering dirt. Most stations (especially small ones) are not particularly clean, and discipline here is weaker; delays are not that uncommon. In principle, passenger trains in Kazakhstan are better than in Ukraine - but much worse than in Russia. Apparently, KTZ, like Russian Railways, is involved in passenger transportation in the same way, but they took different paths: Russian Railways raises the price, KTZ lowers costs.

28.

Most of the trains at the stations are still freight trains. The non-branded carriages here, as you may have noticed, are painted in a characteristic turquoise color, and the locomotives are painted blue:

29.

The local analogue of the Sapsan is the Tulpar (Pegasus) train produced by the Spanish Talgo (they are now assembled in Astana), connecting the two capitals - it covers the journey from Astana to Almaty not in 20 hours (like others), but in just in 12. reaching speeds of up to 160 km/h. IN lately their routes are laid throughout the country: Alma-Ata - Chimkent (10 hours instead of 14), Alma-Ata - Petropavlovsk (19 hours instead of 32), Astana - Semipalatinsk (13 hours instead of 16), Astana - Aktyubinsk (16 hours instead of 30! ), Astana - Atyrau (23 hours instead of 35), and this is impressive - it seems to me that Russia really lacks something like this. - He, of course, has his shortcomings.

30.

But the suburban connections here are even worse than in Russia. I saw an electric train in Kazakhstan once in Karaganda, but for example, not a single (!) commuter train runs from Almaty. Most often, however, the “suburb” here is a jalopy with common carriages and a route of 7-10 hours (for example, Saksaulskaya-Turkestan or Aktogay-Dostyk), from the outside almost no different from a long-distance train. In general, you can travel in these, but be prepared for constant conversations with fellow travelers who have never seen a tourist before.

31.

Passenger locomotives here, as a rule, do not shine with novelty:

32.

But the dynamics are impressive. The pride of Kazakhstan is the TE33A, also known as "Evolution", developed with the help of Genetal Electric and produced at a specially built plant in Astana. A beautiful and powerful car, also distinguished by an unusual “voice”, very similar to a locomotive whistle (it seems to be an American standard).

33.

34.

But the KZ4A electric locomotive, which also pulls the Tulparas, was not built ourselves, but was ordered from the Chinese at the famous Zhongzhou locomotive plant. Alas, for some reason I don’t have better shots of them:

34a.

Branded train cars were also purchased there, in China. At one time, a similar train in its historical homeland was shown in detail by Periscope - there are many differences in details, but in general the essence is recognizable.

35.

Coupe. Pay attention to the bottle - it's birch sap freshly squeezed with pulp, in fact artificial (which is not even denied on the label), but very tasty - I drank it all the time in Kazakhstan. In general, both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have succeeded quite well in producing their own “iced teas,” but I didn’t particularly like them, as well as ordinary juices, but the birch one is good. In the compartment, as you can see, there is a screen (I haven’t seen it working), there is a socket and a light bulb above the seat, but the window cannot be opened completely, as in Russia, and this is a problem - they are not accustomed to washing windows regularly, even on branded trains.

36.

View in reverse side. The shelf can be folded out in any way - even a lying one, even a sitting one for three places, or even a folding table. The thing at the top is a locker:

37.

And this is a SV car, I was traveling in it because I had to urgently change my ticket and there weren’t even compartment cars (this is about the question of why there are so many “hares”). but I suddenly discovered that the SV here is still affordable for me, about one and a half times more expensive than our reserved seat. But I myself can’t understand why, and I didn’t like SV:

38.

The Chinese origin of the carriage is best seen in the toilet - at one end of the carriage there is a regular toilet, and at the other - like a “hole in the floor” (but at the same time there is a hole leading to a dry closet!). Cleanliness, as you can see, is average:

39.

But the hieroglyphs remained on the tap:

39a.

Again, Periscope says that the border of the Russian world in the mental sense is where the trains end, where tea is served in cut glasses with metal cup holders. So, if Ukraine, even western Ukraine, is still within these borders, then Kazakhstan is no longer there. As in Russia, here at the end of the carriage there is an electric titanium with boiling water, which can be heated with wood, but it is poured from it not into a faceted glass, but into a teapot, which is issued one per compartment/reserved seat + bowls according to the number of people who ordered. The first time, out of habit, I only took a bowl without a teapot and, of course, burned my hand (after which the compassionate conductor supplied me with tea for free). Usually the kettle is red, but on the train where I finally decided to take a photo of it, they gave me a white one:

40.

The types of passengers in Kazakhstan are very diverse:

41.

42.

In the south, platform trade is also very developed (despite the fact that in the north there is slightly more of it than in Russia). Here is the abundance of melons at the Chiili station in the depths of the oasis:

43.

Along the Syrdarya and near Balkhash they sell smoked fish:

44.

In Almaty - apples:

45.

The main thing is to protect your goods from the Sun when the train starts moving:

46.

View from the rear window. The road and the pillars and the highway in parallel are a thin thread in the steppe emptiness:

47.

In some places along the tracks there are fences from snow drifts in winter and stupid cattle in summer:

48.

Fleets of snowplows at stations:

49.

Here the Tashkent-Moscow train goes through the void, like an obsession, and its noise can be heard for kilometers:

50.

And in the roadside grass, the gophers, standing in a column, follow the trains with their eyes:

51.

It’s good to take photographs from these trains - the old windows open to their full width (otherwise it’s simply impossible to photograph anything - there’s such a dense layer of dirt on them), there are no trees growing along the tracks, the conductors most often (but not always!) treat tourists with understanding. At the stations - it is already much more alarming, but on the whole tolerable - the Kazakh law enforcement officers are most photoparanoid not about transport (like ours), but about administrative buildings and shopping centers.

And in general, the feeling of traveling by rail in Kazakhstan is somehow, I would say, cosmic - along a narrow strip through immensity.

The next part is about the three Kazakh zhuzes that connect these roads.
About all the cities and villages mentioned in this post -

Today I’ll tell you how to buy train tickets through the official website of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (Kazakh Railways) online.

I’ve been on the official website of the Kazakhstan railway for a long time, to be honest, it used to be, to put it mildly, glitchy =). Before my upcoming trip to Kazakhstan, I came in again and was surprised. The guys made a normal human website, with a user-friendly interface and nice design! I wrote to the support service, is it possible to buy a train ticket from Russian map Sberbank. A positive response came literally within a few hours.

There was another option to hitchhike, but there was not enough time for May holidays, besides, the prices for tickets on Kazakh trains were a pleasant surprise. However, now you will see everything for yourself. Below I will write a short instruction for purchasing a ticket online on the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy website. All of the above applies to cases when a ticket is purchased for domestic flights or from.

How to buy tickets in Kazakhstan online?

It’s a good idea to read the rules of use and information for passengers; all questions are covered there in some detail. You can buy electronic train tickets from 45 days to 1 hour before departure, so you can plan everything in advance if necessary.

2. You must register (button in the upper right corner); without registration you will not be able to buy a train ticket.

3. Enter the place of departure, arrival, date, and the system will display a list of trains. Here you can already see the running time and prices. For example, I bought a ticket from Pavlodar to Almaty for 4000 tenge or 800 rubles. Moreover, it takes more than a day to travel! Our greedy relatives Russian Railways are quietly standing on the sidelines...

Purchasing a train ticket through the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy website

Of course there are expensive trains, but they are twice as fast as usual, brand new, apparently made in Italy. But there are only a few of them, such as Almaty-Astana, Almaty-Petropavlovsk.

Website Kazakhstan Temir Zholy

5. Choose the layout of the carriage and a specific location. Click the “place an order” button.

Buying a train ticket in Kazakhstan on the Internet

6. Next, information about the selected flight appears; here you also need to fill in your passport information. Important! Enter the details of the passport with which you will travel, otherwise you may get confused by mistake. For me, as a citizen of the Russian Federation, an internal passport is enough to travel to Kazakhstan, and it is precisely this data that I entered on the site.

Train tickets in Kazakhstan online - information about passengers

7. After this, you are redirected to the Halyk Bank website, where you will be asked to pay for your ticket order. The procedure is no different from the usual when purchasing online - fill out all the fields carefully, be sure to check all the data!

Redirect to the Halyk Bank website and fill in payment information

As a result, the following page is displayed:

The purchase was successful!

That's it! If such a page loads, it means the ticket was successfully purchased, and the purchase amount will soon be debited from your account. I bought from a Sberbank card, the money was written off at the Sberbank rate of ruble/tenge = 1/4.9. Be sure to print out your electronic train ticket and take it with you!

Buying train tickets in Kazakhstan via the Internet - important details

In order to get into Kazakhstan train, you will need to go to the ticket office at the station or to the self-service terminal and “exchange” the electronic ticket for a regular one. For some trains it is issued electronic registration for the flight. I was lucky; for the Pavlodar-Almaty train I needed, electronic registration had already been carried out during the ticket purchase process (this is indicated on the electronic ticket), so I can go straight to the train.
The website has a list of stations where it is impossible to issue a ticket purchased online, all of these stations are small, it is unlikely that you will go there, but just keep in mind.
There is also a list of addresses of self-service terminals where you can get tickets purchased in advance on the Internet.
As far as I know, in Petropavlovsk you cannot get tickets at the ticket office at the station. All due to the fact that this railway station belongs to Russian Railways. The situation there is constantly changing; the Russian and Kazakh railways cannot come to an agreement and make life more convenient for passengers. Please note that when departing from Petropavlovsk and arriving in Petropavlovsk, Moscow time is indicated; for all other stations in Kazakhstan, Astana time is indicated.
UPD 07/08/2014 You can exchange an electronic ticket for a regular one in Petropavlovsk at the agency ticket offices, which are located near the station. People recommend the Astal agency, +7 7152 365769. Getting a ticket from them costs 370 tenge. (thanks to Denis Mandrov for the information!)
Children under 7 years old travel by train in Kazakhstan for free, children from 7 to 15 years old travel at half price.

As you can see, prices for train tickets in Kazakhstan are quite reasonable. To get cheaply from Russia to Kazakhstan, you can, for example, use the train. Or, in a Russian border town, take a bus to the nearest Kazakh one, and from there travel in the manner described above across Kazakhstan and further to Central Asia. These are the pies))

A well-developed railway network is typical for the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its total length is 14 thousand km. Only 4 thousand km have been electrified. The railways of Kazakhstan in some sections are managed by the railway administrations of Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

For the state, railway transport has great value, since it accounts for more than 57% of the country's passenger turnover and 69% of the country's cargo turnover. Among the countries former USSR Kazakhstan has the most progressive railway sector. The operator of the railway network is the Kazakhstan Railways company, whose office is located in Astana. You can see the train schedule on the website http://www.railways.kz.

What trains are used?

The rolling stock of the railway is represented by freight cars, passenger cars, tank cars and traction vehicles (diesel locomotives, diesel trains, electric trains, etc.). The railway sector is an important part of the production infrastructure. Kazakhstan does not have navigable rivers or access to the sea, but has a vast territory and an underdeveloped transport sector. These conditions make the role railway transport paramount. The railways of Kazakhstan have high technical and production potential, which recent years is steadily increasing.

The railway connection is necessary to directly connect the country with Russian cities such as Moscow, Samara, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Barnaul, etc. Long-distance trains constantly run from the Russian capital to Kazakhstan. Regular flights operate from the listed cities to Pavlodar, Karaganda, Alma-Ata and Astana. Railways connect Kazakhstan with other countries (Kyrgyzstan, China, Uzbekistan). Traveling around the country by train is very convenient. Between major settlements Trains run regularly. Ticket availability can be found on the website railways.kz, which is available in Russian.

Conditions and tickets

Kazakh trains use train classes similar to Russian ones: compartment, SV, general, reserved seat. Conditions for passengers do not differ from conditions on trains in the Russian Federation. The main routes of the country: Almaty - Pavlodar, Almaty - Astana, Almaty - Kostanay, etc. A high-speed train equipped with Spanish-made carriages runs daily between Almaty and Astana. This train has three classes of carriages: tourist, business and grand. The cost of a ticket for a high-speed train is approximately 2000 rubles (about 9800 tenge). A ticket for a regular train can be purchased for 7,000 tenge. To purchase a train ticket, you can use the following virtual platform: https://epay.railways.kz.