Tashkent to Almaty: train, flights and border (2026)

01

Is there a direct train from Tashkent to Almaty?

Yes. Train No. 1/2 is a Talgo run by JSC Passenger Transportation, the passenger company of Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), and it runs every day in both directions. KTZ's own train list shows it as daily, and the company's trade paper announced the daily service from 14 December 2025.

The times below come from the KTZ and Uzbekistan Railways booking searches we ran on 24 September 2026 for October dates. Both sites show the train as 001 in each direction. Times are local; Tashkent and Almaty use the same time zone.

Media reports give 12:53 for the Tashkent arrival and the Uzbek timetable page 08:42 for Almaty; both booking searches show 12:58 and 08:51, which we use.

02

How much is the train ticket?

On KTZ's site, the cheapest seat for departures between 1 October and 7 November 2026 cost 9,218 to 12,244 tenge (about $21–28). Coupe berths started at 18,892 tenge and lux at 27,810 tenge. KTZ prices change with the date: the nearest dates were the dearest, early November the cheapest.

The Uzbek railway site showed one price in som for both October dates we checked (15 and 22 October): 337,640 som for a seat, 611,740 for coupe and 774,830 for SV, its name for lux. Our dollar figures use the Central Bank of Uzbekistan rates for 24 September 2026: 1 USD = 11,814.05 som and 1 tenge = 26.56 som, so about 445 tenge to the dollar. Your card will apply its own rate and fees.

For the same train on 15 October, KTZ asked 10,225 tenge (about $23) for a seat and the Uzbek site 337,640 som (about $29). By our calculation, the tenge price was lower in every class on the dates we compared. On dates when KTZ's price rises, the gap narrows, so compare both sites for your own date.

Coupe had over 200 available berths on every date checked, while lux had only 1 to 23. If you want lux, book early. Southbound prices were similar: on 8 October KTZ showed 10,132 tenge for a seat, 20,848 for coupe and 27,335 for lux.

03

How do you buy the ticket?

Online, on either of two official sites: KTZ's bilet.railways.kz, which charges in tenge, or Uzbekistan Railways' eticket.uzrailpass.uz, which charges in som. Both showed the train with live seat counts on 24 September 2026. We stopped before payment on both, so we have not confirmed that a card issued abroad goes through.

KTZ's site rules say that tickets for long-distance and international trains go on sale 45 days ahead at 07:00 Astana time (the same time zone as Tashkent) and stop 10 minutes before departure. On 24 September, the last date on sale was 7 November, which matches. The Uzbek domestic window is 60 days, as our train booking guide explains.

The same rules say KTZ takes Visa and Mastercard cards through Halyk Bank's payment page and that the card must be enabled for internet payments. They do not say whether cards issued outside Kazakhstan are accepted. KTZ also sells at its station ticket offices; whether the ticket office at Tashkent Central sells this train to a foreign passport holder is something we have not been able to confirm.

1. 1

   Search the route and date

   On bilet.railways.kz choose ТАШКЕНТ → АЛМАТЫ (or the reverse) and a date within the 45-day window. The result shows train 001 (Talgo), the seats left and the lowest price in each class. On eticket.uzrailpass.uz the same train appears as 001, Ташкент Центральный → Алматы.

2. 2

   Enter passenger details exactly as shown in the passport

   Tickets are issued in the passenger's name, and a KTZ cashier compares ticket and identity documents. Use the passport you will travel with.

3. 3

   Pay and keep the e-ticket

   After payment, KTZ emails the e-ticket and shows it in your account. Its rules require collecting a paper ticket at an office in Kazakhstan only for trains without electronic registration; the search data for train 001 shows it has electronic registration. The rules still ask you to print the e-ticket and show it to the conductor, so carry a printout.

4. 4

   If your plans change

   A KTZ e-ticket can be returned in your account up to 1 hour before the train leaves its first station, or at a KTZ ticket office in Kazakhstan. The money goes back to the card you paid with, minus a return fee of 0.1 of Kazakhstan's monthly calculation index, about 430 tenge in 2026 by our calculation.

04

Which stations does it use, and where does it stop?

In Tashkent the train uses Tashkent Central, the station also called North; KTZ prints it as ТОШКЕНТ-ЙУЛО and the Uzbek site as Ташкент Центральный. It is not Tashkent South. Coming from the airport, use our Tashkent airport arrival guide to get to the right station.

In Almaty the train starts and ends at Almaty-2. Almaty-1 has been closed to passengers for rebuilding since 15 July 2026, according to a KTZ notice, so do not send a driver there.

The first Kazakh stop, Saryagash, comes 2 h 6 min after Tashkent. The timetable does not say how passport and customs checks are done on this train or how long they take, and we found no official description. Keep your passport, the ticket and any customs paperwork with you from the moment you board.

05

How often do planes fly, and is flying the better choice?

Flying takes about 1 h 30 min in the air, and four airlines fly the route. Tashkent airport's departure board, read at midday on 24 September 2026, showed Almaty flights by Air Astana, Uzbekistan Airways, Centrum Air and Qanot Sharq, all from Terminal 2, with five departures between 12:30 and 20:40 that day alone.

Schedules change at the start of the winter season in late October. Yandex Schedules shows Qanot Sharq's HH 601 on Mondays and Thursdays only until 22 October, and several Air Astana and Uzbekistan Airways times move from late October. We did not compare air fares.

Our advice: fly if your Kazakhstan days are few. Take the train to cross by land on one ticket, with a lot of luggage, or to save a hotel night by sleeping on board. Going on to Kyrgyzstan instead? Compare the options in Tashkent to Bishkek.

06

Train, plane, bus or on foot: which suits you?

The table sets the four options side by side, with the prices we found and one drawback each. Door-to-door times depend on where you stay, so we give only the operators' times.

07

Which road border is open from Tashkent?

Use Navoi on the Uzbek side and Kaplanbek on the Kazakh side. The old main crossing, Gisht Kuprik (Uzbek side) and Zhibek Zholy (Kazakh side), near Chernyaevka, has been closed for rebuilding since 5 February 2025. When it closed, Uzbek Customs sent people, cars and buses to the new Navoi post in the Tashkent district.

The reopening date has moved several times. In November 2025, Kazakhstan's State Revenue Committee named 31 July 2026. In April 2026, Kazakhstan's First Deputy Prime Minister said September 2026. In July 2026, the Turkestan region governor's office said the rebuilding would finish by the end of 2026. On 7 September 2026, the regional paper Otyrar reported the Kazakh post as being prepared for launch, with exterior finishing under way. We found no report of it opening by 24 September.

Kaplanbek is about 20 km further than the old crossing and about 1 h 30 min by car from Shymkent, according to a July 2025 Kazinform report. It takes pedestrians, cars and buses, with separate lanes for foreign citizens, and the reporter needed about 25 minutes for both controls on the way out.

1. 1

   Get to the Navoi post

   A traveller's report from April 2025 used Tashkent city bus 120, which runs between the border and the Chorsu area. Check the route in a transit app first; we have not ridden it.

2. 2

   Leave Uzbekistan

   Pass Uzbek passport control and customs. Cash rules on leaving are in our cash and customs guide.

3. 3

   Enter Kazakhstan at Kaplanbek

   Use the lanes for foreign citizens.

4. 4

   Continue to Shymkent

   Taxis and buses run from the Kazakh side. The traveller who wrote the April 2025 report paid 1,500 to 3,000 tenge per person for shared rides between Shymkent and the border.

08

Is there a direct bus from Tashkent to Almaty?

Yes. Tashtrans, Tashkent's city transport portal, lists a daily bus from the Tashkent bus station at Olmazor metro, leaving at 16:00 or 18:00. It covers 818 km in about 13 hours and costs 315,000 som (about $27). The page was last updated on 27 June 2026.

Buy at the ticket offices at the bus station with your passport, or online on avtoticket.uz, which the page names. The page does not say which border crossing the bus uses; while Gisht Kuprik is closed, ask at the ticket office.

Expect a night on a coach and a border stop where you carry your bags through both controls. A train seat costs about the same, and a coupe berth (about $42) lets you lie down.

09

Can you break the journey in Shymkent?

Yes, in two ways. Train 1/2 stops in Shymkent at 21:05, and KTZ sells Tashkent–Shymkent tickets on it (from 5,080 tenge in a seat for 15 October). Or cross on foot at Navoi/Kaplanbek and take a taxi or bus to Shymkent, about 1 h 30 min from the border.

From Shymkent, KTZ's train list shows two daily Talgo trains to Almaty-2 (Nos. 11/12 and 25/26), so you can continue after a night or two. For Almaty alone, the through train is simpler.

If you are in western Uzbekistan instead, the other rail link to Kazakhstan runs from Nukus to Beyneu; KTZ lists train 651/652 on that line. It is a different trip and does not lead to Almaty in a day. For western Kazakhstan and the rail-only crossing from Karakalpakstan, see Nukus to Beyneu.

10

What do you need to enter Kazakhstan?

Most Western passports need no visa. The Kazakh embassy in London lists visa-free stays of up to 30 days per entry and 90 days in any 180 for the countries it names. Check your own passport on the Kazakh foreign ministry's pages before booking.

QazETA, Kazakhstan's new electronic travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, is voluntary for now. The foreign ministry describes the pilot as advisory, and on 7 September 2026 the Interior Ministry was reported as saying that it is free, that the rules allowing it took effect on 25 August 2026, and that not having one is no reason to refuse entry. No date for making it compulsory had been announced.

If you need a Kazakh e-visa, the choice is made for you: the foreign ministry says e-visa holders may enter and leave only through international airports, so fly.

Almaty and Tashkent keep the same time. All of Kazakhstan moved to UTC+5 on 1 March 2024, under a government decision announced by the Ministry of Trade and Integration, and the train timetable agrees: 14:41 plus 18 h 10 min is 08:51. Many older guides still say Almaty is an hour ahead.

Kazakhstan's currency is the tenge (₸). For coming back to Uzbekistan, see our visa and registration guide.

11

Going on to Samarkand or Bukhara

There is no through train from Almaty to Samarkand or Bukhara. Train 1/2 ends at Tashkent Central, and you change there. Both railways list it only as Almaty–Tashkent.

The southbound train arrives at 12:58 at the same station the Afrosiyob uses for Samarkand; see our Tashkent–Samarkand guide and Afrosiyob guide. Uzbekistan Railways' timetable lists an evening train from Tashkent Central to Bukhara (No. 772, 19:48, daily); check its stops and seats for your date. We suggest a night in Tashkent unless the onward ticket is already booked.

Uzbek domestic tickets go on sale 60 days ahead and KTZ tickets 45 days ahead. If you plan both, book the Uzbek leg as soon as it opens and the Kazakh train when its window reaches your date. If you are travelling with us in Uzbekistan, send us your train details and we will plan the Tashkent end around them.

12

What can go wrong on this route?

Possible difficulties include further delays to the border reopening, a declined card payment and no available lux berths. More for this trip: Kazakhstan entry rules and QazETA, Almaty city guide, Kazakhstan guides and Central Asia in 3 weeks.

• The Gisht Kuprik reopening has been announced for July 2026, then September 2026, then the end of 2026. Do not plan around it until it has opened.
• Both railway sites name Visa and Mastercard. That is not a promise that your bank will approve the payment, and we have not tested a foreign card on either site for this train.
• Lux had between 1 and 23 available berths on the dates we checked. Coupe had more than 200.
• We found no official description of border control on board, or of how long the train stands at the border.
• Holders of a Kazakh e-visa cannot use the train or the road border; they must fly.
• In som, the Uzbek site's price was higher than KTZ's tenge price on every date we compared, by our calculation at the central bank rate.
• Some flights on today's board stop or change time from late October.
• Queues at Kaplanbek depend on the season and the hour. On the day of the July 2025 Kazinform report, there were 4 to 5 people per window.

Common questions