Train Journeys in Central Asia
Rail travel in Central Asia is a journey into both landscape and history. The region’s railways were largely built by the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union to bind the vast steppe and desert to Moscow, and their long, slow lines still cross some of the emptiest country on Earth. Riding them, often in classic Soviet sleeper carriages sharing tea and food with fellow passengers, is an experience in itself.
Uzbekistan has modernised fastest, with sleek Afrosiyob high-speed trains linking the Silk Road cities, but elsewhere the pleasure lies in the old lines: the epic Turksib route across Kazakhstan, the trans-desert line to Turkmenistan, and the border-hopping services that still stitch the region together. Trains are cheap, safe, and a wonderful way to watch Central Asia roll past the window.
Rail Routes#
Afrosiyob high-speed line, Uzbekistan Uzbekistan’s flagship route, whisking travellers at up to 250km/h between Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. The fastest and most comfortable way to link the great Silk Road cities in a matter of hours.
Tashkent to Khiva, Uzbekistan A long-distance sleeper crossing the Kyzylkum desert to the walled oasis of Khiva, letting travellers reach the most remote of the Silk Road cities without the desert drive.
The Turksib Railway, Kazakhstan The historic Turkestan-Siberia line, a Soviet engineering feat linking Almaty with Russia across the northern steppe. A classic long-haul journey through vast, empty grassland.
Almaty to Nur-Sultan (Astana), Kazakhstan The overnight sleeper connecting Kazakhstan’s two great cities across the steppe, a comfortable and quintessentially Central Asian rail experience between the old and new capitals.
Trans-Caspian line, Turkmenistan The historic railway across the Karakum desert linking Ashgabat, Mary (near ancient Merv), and Turkmenabat, following the route the Russian Empire drove to conquer Central Asia.
Almaty to Tashkent, Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan A cross-border sleeper linking Kazakhstan’s largest city with the Uzbek capital, a slow and sociable way to travel between two of the region’s hubs.
Bishkek to Balykchy, Kyrgyzstan A scenic seasonal line running down to the western shore of Issyk-Kul, a rare stretch of passenger rail in mountainous Kyrgyzstan popular in summer.
Dushanbe to Kulob, Tajikistan One of the few operating passenger lines in mountainous Tajikistan, threading valleys in the country’s south where road and rail cling to the terrain.
Registan by rail (Samarkand hub), Uzbekistan Samarkand’s grand railway station is the gateway to the Registan and the natural rail base for exploring the Timurid capital between high-speed connections.
Tashkent Metro, Uzbekistan Not a long-distance journey but a destination in itself: Central Asia’s oldest metro, whose ornate Soviet stations are decorated like underground palaces of marble, mosaic, and chandeliers.