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

The night train suits most trips; fly if your days are short

Take the Talgo if you can spare an afternoon and a night: you board at 14:41, sleep in a berth and step off in Almaty at 08:51, with the border crossed on one ticket. Fly if your days in Kazakhstan are few, and always if you hold a Kazakh e-visa. The bus costs a little more than a train seat (about $27 against $21) and means a night sitting up. The road via Shymkent pays off only if you want to stop in Shymkent or Turkestan.

The Talgo leaves Tashkent Central at 14:41 every day

Train No. 1/2 is a Talgo run by the passenger company of Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ), daily in both directions since 14 December 2025. Both railways' booking searches list it as train 001, and Tashkent and Almaty share one clock, so every time below is local at both ends.

Southbound, train 001 leaves Almaty-2 at 19:05 and reaches Tashkent Central at 12:58 the next day (17 h 53 min). For 15 October, KTZ asked 10,132 ₸ for a seat, 20,848 ₸ for coupe and 27,335 ₸ for lux.

In Tashkent the train uses Tashkent Central, also called North station, which KTZ prints as ТОШКЕНТ-ЙУЛО; it does not use Tashkent South. In Almaty it uses Almaty-2, because Almaty-1 has been closed to passengers for rebuilding since 15 July 2026. The border lies between Tashkent and Saryagash, the first Kazakh stop, 2 h 06 min out. Neither railway describes the controls on board, so keep your passport and ticket on you from boarding. For the ride from the airport to the station, see arriving at Tashkent airport.

KTZ sells the same seats for less than the Uzbek site

Both railways sell train 001: KTZ in tenge on bilet.railways.kz, Uzbekistan Railways in som on eticket.uzrailpass.uz. KTZ prices move with demand: on 27 September a seat for 1 October cost 14,258 ₸, one for 29 October 9,218 ₸. At the Central Bank of Uzbekistan rate of 26 September 2026 (1 ₸ = 26.71 som; $1 = 11,825.40 som), KTZ was cheaper in every class on both dates compared. The Uzbek site asked 4% more for lux, 7–9% more for coupe and 23–26% more for a seat.

Coupe had 113 to 236 free berths on each date read, lux only 1 to 19, seats 48 to 69. If you want lux, book on the day your date goes on sale.

Tickets go on sale 45 days ahead on bilet.railways.kz

KTZ opens sales 45 days before departure at 07:00 Astana time, which is Tashkent time, and closes them 10 minutes before the train leaves; on 27 September the last date on sale was 9 November. It takes Visa and Mastercard through Halyk Bank's payment page, and the card must be open for online payments. Its rules say nothing about cards issued abroad, so have a second card ready.

1. 1

   Search your date

   On bilet.railways.kz choose ТАШКЕНТ → АЛМАТЫ and a date inside the window. The result shows train 001 (Talgo), free places and the lowest fare in each class. On eticket.uzrailpass.uz the same train appears as 001, Ташкент Центральный → Алматы.

2. 2

   Enter the passport you will carry

   Tickets are personal: type the name and passport number exactly as in the document you travel with.

3. 3

   Pay and print

   KTZ emails the e-ticket and keeps it in your account. The search data marks train 001 for electronic registration, so there is nothing to collect at a ticket office, but the rules ask you to show the conductor a printout.

4. 4

   Return it if plans change

   Return the e-ticket in your account up to 1 hour before the train leaves its first station, or at a KTZ ticket office in Kazakhstan. The refund goes back to the card, minus 0.1 of Kazakhstan's monthly calculation index, about 430 ₸ in 2026.

Four airlines fly the route in about 1 h 30 min

Air Astana, Uzbekistan Airways, Centrum Air and Qanot Sharq fly to Almaty from Tashkent's Terminal 2; on 24 September 2026 the airport board showed five Almaty departures between 12:30 and 20:40. On 27 September Air Astana's fare page showed round trips from $211 for October dates, and Centrum Air, which flies twice a week, listed one-way fares from 892,900 som.

Timetables change with the winter season from 25 October: Qanot Sharq's HH 601 is listed only to 22 October, and several Air Astana and Uzbekistan Airways times move.

The direct bus takes about 13 hours for 315,000 som

Tashtrans, the Tashkent city transport portal, lists a daily bus from the Tashkent bus station at Olmazor metro at 16:00 or 18:00: 818 km in about 13 hours for 315,000 som. The timetable was last updated on 27 June 2026. Buy at the station's ticket office with your passport or on avtoticket.uz; the station's number is +998 71 207-87-00.

Expect a night in a seat and a stop at each control, where you carry your bags through. The timetable does not name the crossing; while Chernyaevka is closed, ask at the ticket office. A train seat costs less (from 9,218 ₸, about $21), and a coupe berth (from 18,892 ₸, about $43) lets you lie flat.

Cross the road border at Navoi–Kaplanbek, not Chernyaevka

The old main crossing, Gisht Kuprik on the Uzbek side and Zhibek Zholy on the Kazakh side, known as Chernyaevka, has been closed for rebuilding since 5 February 2025. Traffic moved to Uzbekistan's Navoi post in the Tashkent district, opposite Kazakhstan's Kaplanbek, about 20 km further on. Uzbek Customs lists Navoi–Kaplanbek as an international crossing open 24 hours, and Kazakhstan's State Revenue Committee opened it to pedestrians, cars and buses; foreigners have their own lanes.

The reopening date has slipped three times: 31 July 2026 (Kazakhstan's State Revenue Committee, November 2025), September 2026 (Kazakhstan's First Deputy Prime Minister, April 2026) and the end of 2026 (the Turkestan region governor's office, July 2026). On 7 September 2026 the regional paper Otyrar described the Kazakh post as being prepared for launch; as of 27 September no opening had been announced.

1. 1

   Get to the Navoi post

   A traveller in April 2025 took Tashkent city bus 120, which then ran between the Chorsu area and the border.

2. 2

   Leave Uzbekistan

   Uzbek passport control and customs. Limits on the cash you take out: cash limits and customs.

3. 3

   Enter Kazakhstan at Kaplanbek

   Use the lanes for foreign citizens. A Kazinform reporter needed about 25 minutes for both controls in July 2025, with 4 to 5 people at each window.

4. 4

   Continue to Shymkent

   Taxis and buses wait on the Kazakh side; Shymkent is about 1 h 30 min by car. The April 2025 traveller paid 1,500–3,000 ₸ a person for shared rides.

Break the trip in Shymkent or Turkestan

Train 001 stops in Shymkent at 21:05, and KTZ sells Tashkent–Shymkent on it: for 15 October a seat cost 5,080 ₸, coupe 10,808 ₸ and lux 15,259 ₸. From Shymkent two daily Talgo trains, Nos. 11/12 and 25/26, run on to Almaty-2, so you can continue after a night or two. Or cross on foot at Navoi–Kaplanbek and take a taxi to Shymkent.

For Turkestan, direct night trains 305 and 315 leave Tashkent Central at 00:32 three times a week and arrive at 09:05. The ticket carries the date just after midnight, so be at the station the evening before. Turkestan and Shymkent covers both cities, and Kazakhstan with Uzbekistan a 10-day route that uses them.

From western Uzbekistan, the rail link into Kazakhstan runs from Nukus to Beyneu, far from Almaty: see Nukus.

Visa-free passports need nothing extra for Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan lets citizens of the countries on its visa-free list stay 30 days per entry and 90 days in any 180; the list and the registration rules are in the Kazakhstan guide. A Kazakh e-visa is valid only at international airports, which rules out the train, the bus and the road crossing.

QazETA, Kazakhstan's new electronic travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, is voluntary and free: on 6 September 2026 the Interior Ministry said that not having one is no reason to refuse entry. As of 27 September 2026 no compulsory date had been set.

Almaty keeps Tashkent time: all of Kazakhstan moved to UTC+5 on 1 March 2024, and the timetable agrees (14:41 plus 18 h 10 min is 08:51). Older guides that put Almaty an hour ahead are out of date. The currency is the tenge (₸).

No train runs through from Almaty to Samarkand

Train 001 ends at Tashkent Central, the station the Afrosiyob uses for Samarkand and Bukhara, so you change there. Uzbek tickets go on sale 60 days ahead and KTZ's 45, so book the Uzbek leg first and the Talgo when its window reaches your date. The 12:58 arrival leaves the afternoon for an onward train, and train 772 leaves Tashkent Central for Bukhara at 19:48 every day. Tashkent to Samarkand has the timetable and Afrosiyob and tickets the booking steps. Without an onward ticket, plan a night in Tashkent.

What can go wrong

• The Chernyaevka reopening has slipped from July to September to the end of 2026. Plan on Navoi–Kaplanbek until it has actually opened.
• KTZ fares climb as the date nears: on 27 September a seat cost 14,258 ₸ four days out and 9,218 ₸ a month out.
• Lux is scarce: 1 to 19 free berths per date, against 113 to 236 in coupe.
• KTZ's site takes Visa and Mastercard only, and its rules say nothing about cards issued outside Kazakhstan.
• A Kazakh e-visa rules out the train, the bus and the road crossing.
• Flight days change from 25 October; Qanot Sharq's HH 601 is listed only to 22 October.

Common questions