Kazakhstan's most popular summer train destinations revealed
Routes to lakes Alakol and Balkhash, the Caspian Sea coast, as well as to Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, Turkistan, and the Burabay resort area traditionally see high passenger demand in summer, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Alakol
The coast of Lake Alakol remains the most popular resort destination. Trains operate to the resort area on 15 routes from Astana, Almaty, Pavlodar, and the East Kazakhstan, Abai, and Kyzylorda regions.
Ten routes are operated by Passenger Transportation JSC, and two by private carriers. This summer, the national carrier will offer around 230,000 seats.
Balkhash
Trains run to Lake Balkhash on eight routes. In summer, passenger traffic averages 45,000.
Burabay
Train services to the Burabay resort area are organized on 16 routes. Summer passenger traffic averages 65,000.
Turkistan
Trains run to Turkistan on 16 routes. During the summer season, passenger traffic is around 60,000.
Aktau
Trains to Aktau run on seven routes. Summer passenger traffic averages 155,000.
Saryagash
Five trains run to Saryagash. Passenger traffic during the summer season is around 9,500.
The most routes — 36 — lead to Astana, with an average of approximately 130,000 passengers per month.
To southern destinations:
- 26 routes to Almaty
- 18 routes to Shymkent
Monthly passenger traffic:
- Almaty — 155,000–160,000
- Shymkent — around 70,000
This summer, the national carrier plans to transport over 4.2 million passengers.
As Qazinform reported earlier, IATA warns of slowing air connectivity in Europe.