Rail transport in Uzbekistan
Rail transport in Uzbekistan. As of March 2017, the total length of Uzbekistan's main railway network is 4,669 km (2,446 km of which is electrified).[1] A large percentage of the system’s track requires major repair. The main line is the portion of the Transcaspian Railroad that connects Tashkent with the Amu Darya. There are rail links with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (see Trans-Caspian Railway), Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. Suburban traffic only exists around Tashkent.
Uzbekistan Rail Network | |
---|---|
![]() Bukhara train station | |
Operation | |
National railway | Uzbek Railways |
System length | |
Total | 4,669 kilometres (2,901 mi) |
Track gauge | |
Main | 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) |
High speed rail
The Tashkent–Samarkand high-speed rail line; a line upgraded to high speed operation started operation in September 2011.[2]
International links
Uzbekistan has links to Moscow, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Saratov, Penza and Saint Petersburg (via Kazakhstan) and Kharkiv (via Kazakhstan and Russia, it was suspended since Donbass insurgency was begun in 2014). From Almaty connecting trains are provided to Urumchi in China. Also Tajik trains of Dushanbe-Moscow (No: 319), Moscow-Dushanbe (No: 320), Khujand-Saratov (No: 335), Khujand-Atyrau (No: 335), Saratov-Khujand (No: 336), Khujand-Moscow (No: 359), Moscow-Khujand (No: 360), Kanibadam-Kurgonteppa (No: 389), Kurgonteppa-Kanibadam (No: 389) and Atyrau-Khujand (No: 692) passes from Uzbekistan.
With only one change of trains in Moscow, passengers can travel overland from Central and Western Europe (Berlin, Cologne, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Helsinki, etc.) to Tashkent and vice versa.[3]
The Karshi-Termez line, which extends across the border into Afghanistan, is being electrified.[4]
In March 2018, Uzbekistan Railways began a new service, connecting Tashkent with Balykchy.[5]
Metro lines
The Tashkent Metro was the only such line in Central Asia., until the opening of the Almaty Metro. Last development projects are detailed in Uzbekistan Railways website: http://www.railway.uz
Stats
4 669 km rail network carries about 40% of total freight volume in the country, and about 4% of the total land passenger volume. Around 2 350 km of the network is currently electrified, as of 2019.[6]
References
- Asian Development Bank website
- High-speed Afrosiyob train starts to run between Tashkent and Samarkand, 6 October 2011
- http://uzbekistan-railway.blogspot.com/
- Yeniseyev, Maksim. "Uzbekistan electrifies railway towards Afghan border". central.asia-news.com. Caravanserai. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- "Uzbekistan Opens New Railway Routes to Kyrgyzstan, Russia". EurasiaNet. March 22, 2018.
A weekly train running the route from the capital of Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul region was set to depart on its maiden trip on the evening of March 22 [...] The train traveling from Tashkent to Balykchy, a town on the western end of Issyk-Kul Lake, will be able to carry up to 300 passengers.
- https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/news/asia/single-view/view/adb-loan-for-uzbekistan-railways-locomotive-order.html