The vast territory of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

spans across . The population density is low in Kazakhstan, and the centers of industry and agriculture are spread out and remote from world markets.

Railways

Railways provide 68% of all cargo and passenger traffic to over 57% of the country. There are in common carrier service, excluding industrial lines, of which was electrified as of 2021. All railway lines in Kazakhstan are built in gauge.

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Qazaqstan Temır Joly ( ) is the national railway company of Kazakhstan. Organization Founded by the government in 2002 as a joint stock company, KTZ’s task is to develop, operate, and maintain railway transportation in Kazakhstan. It is head ...

(KTZ) is the national railway company. KTZ cooperates with French rolling stock manufacturer

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

in developing Kazakhstan's railway infrastructure. Alstom has more than 600 staff and two joint ventures with KTZ and its subsidiary in Kazakhstan. In July 2017, Alstom opened its first locomotive repairing center in Kazakhstan. It is the only repairing center in Central Asia and the Caucasus. As the Kazakhstani rail system was designed during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

era, rail routes were designed ignoring inter-Soviet borders, based on the needs of Soviet planning. This has caused anomalies, such as the route from

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or ora ...

to Aktobe passing briefly through Russian territory. It also means that routes might not suit modern-day Kazakhstani needs. Kazakhstan's developed railway system promotes international and regional trade connecting Asia and Europe. In 2019, the transit of goods through Kazakhstan increased 23% to 664,000 containers.

Railway links with adjacent countries

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

- same gauge (former Soviet Union railway system) *

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

break of gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and railroad car, rolling stock g ...

/; ** Border station at Druzhba, KZ - Alashankou, CN, connection between the

Turkestan–Siberia Railway The Turkestan–Siberian Railway (commonly abbreviated as the ''Turk–Sib'', , , ; ) is a Russian gauge, broad gauge railway that connects Central Asia with Siberia. It starts north of Tashkent in Uzbekistan at Arys, Kazakhstan, Arys, where it ...

and the Northern Xinjiang Railway (no electrification on them). ** Another connection exist from Altynkol railway station near Khorgas to the Jinghe–Yining–Khorgos Railway towards

Ürümqi Ürümqi, , is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. With a census population of 4 million in 2020, Ürümqi is the second-largest city in China's northwestern interior after Xi'an, also the ...

. *

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

- same gauge (former Soviet Union railway system) *

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

- same gauge (former Soviet Union railway system) *

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

- same gauge (former Soviet Union railway system) (railway link opened in 2013, presently for freight) *

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

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