Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Connections
¨ Trains are useful to
cover the vast distances
in Kazakhstan. Certain
corridors, such as Almaty-
Astana and Almaty-
Shymkent are well served
by three or four fast trains
a day.
¨ The Spanish-built, daily
Talgo train between Almaty
and Astana takes 12½
hours, against up to 21
hours for other trains, and
costs about twice as much
(US$80 in tourist class).
A new high-speed rail link
between the two cities is
due to be finished by 2017,
reducing the journey time to
just five hours.
¨ The high-speed train from
Tashkent to Samarkand
(2¼ hours) is faster than
the buses and features
airplane-style seats.
¨ There's also a useful
overnight Tashkent-
Bukhara run, with a soft
sleeper berth for around
US$20.
¨ As an indication of journey
times, Urgench-Tashkent
is 22 hours and Tashkent-
Almaty is 25 hours (three
weekly).
¨ Turkmenistan has slow
but new trains running to
most corners of the country.
Travel times are long but
fares are low. An overnight
berth between Ashgabat
and the Caspian Sea costs
less than US$3.
¨ Elsewhere, connections
are drying up as fast as
the Aral Sea; few trains
run to Dushanbe any more
(those that do take a very
roundabout route and
multiple transit visas) and
there are no direct lines, for
example, between Ashgabat
and any other Central Asian
capitals.
¨ Trains to and from Russia
can be used for getting
around Central Asia and
may be faster but any train
originating far from where
you are is likely to be filthy,
crowded and late by the
time you board it.
Tickets & Fares
Book at least two days
ahead for CIS connections,
if you can. You will probably
need to show your passport
and visa. A few stations
have separate windows
for advance bookings and
for departures within 24
hours; the latter is generally
the one with the heaving
mob around it (beware
of pickpockets). You may
also find a city train-ticket
office (Russian: zhelezno-
dorozhnaya kassa or Zh D
Kassa ) where you can buy
train tickets for small or no
mark-up, without going to
the station. Many tourist
hotels have rail-booking
desks (including their own
mark-up).
¨ If you can't get a ticket for
a particular train, it's worth
turning up anyway. No
matter how full ticket clerks
insist a train is, there always
seem to be spare kupeyny
(2nd-class or sleeping
carriage) berths. Ask an
attendant.
¨ For services in
Kazakhstan visit www.
railways.kz.
¨ For trains in Uzbekistan
see www.uzrailpass.uz.
¨ A few sample kupeyny
fares (one-way) from
Tashkent are US$30 to
Urgench and US$20 to
Bukhara.
¨ A seat on the daytime fast
trains costs US$10/13 from
Tashkent to Samarkand/
Bukhara (if converting
at black-market rates),
with a super-fast service
to Samarkand/Bukhara
costing around US$15/30.
¨ Fares from Almaty
include Semey (US$30),
Taraz (US$16) and Astana
(US$20 or US$92 express).
 
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