As of 2020, no operational high-speed rail systems exist in Kazakhstan. Two links are planned – between Almaty and Astana, and an international link between Moscow and Beijing that would go through the country.
In November 2013 the proposed Astana (then Nur-Sultan)–Almaty high speed railway was postponed due to high costs and doubts over passenger numbers.[1]
Previously in March 2013, Qazaqstan Temir Zholy, the national rail company of Kazakhstan, awarded a contract to Systra to oversee the design and construction of a high-speed line from Astana, the country's capital, to Almaty, its largest city.[2][3] The line is expected to be Шаблон:Convert long, and will travel via Karaganda and Balkhash.[2][3] A Шаблон:Convert viaduct across Lake Balkhash is planned near Sayaq.[2][3] The trains are expected by be built by Tulpar-Talgo (a joint venture established in 2011 between Qazaqstan Temir Zholy and Spanish company Talgo[4]), and will have a maximum speed of Шаблон:Convert, completing the trip in five and a half hours.[2][3] The system will use Russian gauge, the same as used by Kazakhstan's existing conventional lines.[2][3]
Moscow–Beijing via Kazakhstan
In 2015, a Russian Railways official said that the Moscow-Beijing HSR line would pass through either Russia's Altai Republic or Kazakhstan. The difference in length between the two proposed routes would be 290 km (180 miles).[5]
