Trans-Aral Railway

Trans-Aral Railway
A view from the train while travelling along the path of the Trans-Aral Railway. Much of the railway cuts across the vast, rolling Kazakh Steppe
Overview
Other name(s)	Tashkent Railway
Status	Operational
Owner	Russian Railways (Rostov-on-Don–Iletsk I) Kazakhstan Temir Joly (Karatogay–Arys I) Uzbek Railways (Tashkent–Andizhan I)
Locale	European Russia Central Asia
Termini	Rostov-on-Don Andizhan I
Stations	42
Service
Type	Inter-city rail Freight rail
Operator(s)	Russian Railways Kazakhstan Temir Joly Uzbek Railways
History
Commenced	1888–1906
Built era	Russian Empire
Technical
Line length	9,200 km (5,700 mi)[1]
Number of tracks	2
Character	International rail link
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge
Old gauge	1,524 mm (5 ft) as built
Route map Legend Don–Fergana main line to Krasnodar & Taman Rostov-on-Don Moscow-Crimea main line Liski to Voronezh Bobrov Khrenovaya Talovaya Koleno Novokhopyorsk Kalmyk Povolyno Balashov Arkadak Rtishevo II Blagodatka Ekaterinovka Atkarsk to Saratov Petrovsk to Saratov Sennaya to Syzlan-Gorod & Ulyanovsk Volsk II Volga river Balakovo to Saratov & Ershov Pugachevo Novoperelyuskaya to Samara & Buzuluk Pogromnoe Sorochinskaya Novosergievskaya to Orsk, Tobol & Astana Orenburg Donguzkaya Iletsk I Russia Kazakhstan border Karatogay Aktobe Alga Aral Baikonur / Tyuratam Kyzylorda Turkistan Arys I to Almaty Kazakhstan Uzbekistan border Tashkent to Samarkand Zhaloir Angren Kamchiq tunnel to Khuchand Pop Namangan former line to Uchkurgan to Uchkurgan & Kirgyzstan Hakkulobod Paytug Andizhan I to Fergana

The Trans-Aral Railway, also known as the Tashkent Railway, is a 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge railway built in 1906 to connect Kinel and Tashkent, both then within the Russian Empire.^[2][3] For much of the early 20th century, it was the only railway link between European Russia and Central Asia.