 | ||
Astana–Almaty
Qazaqstan Temir Zholy, the national rail company of Kazakhstan, has awarded a contract to oversee the design and construction of a high-speed line from Astana (the country's capital) to Almaty (its largest city). The line is expected to be 1,011 km (628 mi) long, and will travel via Karaganda and Balkhash. A 10 km (6.2 mi) viaduct across Lake Balkhash is planned near Sayaq. The trains are expected by be built by Tulpar-Talgo (a joint venture established in 2011 between Qazaqstan Temir Zholy and Spanish company Talgo), and will have a maximum speed of 250 km/h (155 mph), completing the trip in five and a half hours. The system will use Russian gauge, the same as used by Kazakhstan's existing conventional lines. However, in 2013 the project was postponed due to high cost, and since the passenger number were doubted, since many would fly anyway when the trains take over five hours.
Contents
Route
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).