Galería - Passenger Cars - corporate
Talgo and KTZ breathe new life into Kazakhstan's railway
Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country on Earth yet has a population of just 16 million people. Economic development at the start of the 21st century increased demand for transport, but Kazakhstan's railway rolling stock was incapable of offering services that would shorten the enormous distances between the country's major population centres. The arrival of the first Talgo trains dramatically changed this situation.
Kazakhstan's railway network spans over 15,000km and uses the 1520mm Russian track gauge, a legacy of its Soviet past. Following the country's independence, one of the government's priorities was to modernise transport infrastructure, with the railway a major focus in a country where the population is unevenly distributed.
In 2001, the national railway operator Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) commissioned Talgo to deliver a six-car tilting train to carry out a series of demonstration tests on the 1350km line between Almaty and Astana - the two most important cities in the country. The results could not have been more telling: Talgo trains reduced the journey time by eight hours, down from the 20 hours required by even the best conventional trains at the time. After this success, in 2003 KTZ added two newly manufactured night-service trains to its rolling stock fleet, to which a further 436 cars were added in 2010.
A specific solution for a requirement without precedent
- Sharp decrease in travel times: 8 hours less on the Almaty - Astana journey.
- Operating speed of 110km/h on a corridor that is more than 1350km long - a distance more or less the same as between Paris and Warsaw.
- Maximum performance on existing railway infrastructure, without the need for additional investments.
Adapted to the environment
- Speed of up to 220km/h on Russian gauge (1520mm) infrastructure.
- Designed to comfortably withstand a wide temperature range from -40ºC to 45ºC.
- Built in line with demanding GOST standards, common to all railway administrations in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The trains can operate in Kazakhstan and in 10 neighbouring countries.
- Maintenance works carried out with the client through a joint venture: Tulpar-Talgo.
Astana Express
- Seats 306 passengers on every journey.
- Night-trains with 22 coach cars that include 12 Standard Class sleeper cars, 3 with two berth cabins and a further 2 Grand Class sleeper cars (two berths and WC per cabin).
- A fully equipped Bistro car and Dining car that offer quality on board catering and restaurant service.
