Kazakhstan to launch new railway connecting to Uzbekistan by 2027

Kazakhstan plans to commission a new railway connecting to Uzbekistan by 2027. The Darbaza – Maktaaral line, with an estimated cost of nearly $550 million, will serve as an alternative to the Saryagash–Tashkent line, reducing the load on the Saryagash station, according to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC.

Photo: Press service of the Government of Kazakhstan

According to the company’s information, the construction work involves 46 pieces of road-building equipment and over 70 workers.

As part of the project, assembling rail and sleeper grids over a distance of 203 km is planned, and work has been completed over 100 km so far. Of the planned 9.5 million cubic meters of earthworks, 1.4 million cubic meters (15%) have been completed.

In addition to bringing Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan closer, the Darbaza – Maktaaral railway will connect two remote districts of the Turkestan region—Maktaaral and Zhetisay—to other parts of Kazakhstan.

The project, worth 286 billion KZT ($545.8 million), is being implemented by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC, a portfolio company of “Samruk-Kazyna.”

The construction of the project began in 2023 and includes plans to establish nine railway stations and open a new border crossing point at the Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan border.

It is worth noting that in late 2024, construction of the "China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan" railway also commenced.

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