London - Moscow
Moscow - Almaty
Moscow - Tashkent
Moscow - Bishkek
Tashkent -
Samarqand - Bokhara
Almaty - Ürümqi
Ürümqi- Xian - Beijing
It's easy to travel
from London to Moscow by train, in 48 hours with comfortable
sleepers for the overnight sections. For times, fares, how to
buy tickets and Russian visa information, see the London to Russia page.
Direct sleeper trains also run to Moscow from Vienna,
Prague, Warsaw, Berlin, Budapest, Helsinki and many other
cities, just use
http://bahn.hafas.de to check train times.
There
is a train running every second day from Moscow to Almaty in
Kazakhstan. This is the 'Kazakhstan', with spalny vagon (2-berth sleepers), kupé (4-berth sleepers) and
platskartny (open plan dormitory cars) plus restaurant car
Moscow-Almaty every second day. The train passes from Russia into
Kazakhstan,
but briefly transits another part of Russia before
re-entering Kazakhstan. However, it is reported that
you just need single-entry visa for Russia and a
single-entry visa for Kazakhstan to travel on this train.
Multiple-entry visas for Russia and Kazakhstan are not
required just because of this (but please double-check this). You can check train times and
days of running at
www.poezda.net.
Moscow ► Almaty
|
|
Almaty ► Moscow
|
|
The "Kazakhstan" |
Train 8: |
The "Kazakhstan" |
Train 7: |
|
Moscow |
depart |
22:25 day 1 |
Almaty |
depart
|
07:35 day 1 |
|
Yaisan (Kazak frontier) |
arrive |
11:46 day 3 |
Yaisan (Russian frontier) |
arrive |
03:14 day 3 |
|
Almaty |
arrive |
06:52 day 5 |
Moscow |
arrive |
10:27 day 4 |
You can book train travel in
Russia, including this train, through several Russian
agencies, including:
You can make
arrangements for trains, hotels and tours in Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan through local agencies such as
www.tourasia.kz.
There
is a train running 3 times a week from Moscow to
Tashkent in
Uzbekistan. This is the 'Uzbekistan', with Spalny Vagon (2-berth sleepers), kupé (4-berth sleepers) and
platskartny (open plan dormitory car) plus restaurant car.
The train passes from Russia into Kazakhstan, briefly
transits another part of Russia before re-entering
Kazakhstan,
then it enters Uzbekistan. You will need a Russian visa, Kazak transit visa and
Uzbek visa. However, it is reported that
multiple-entry visas for Russia and Kazakhstan are not
required just because this train transits part of Russia
after entering Kazakhstan (please double-check this). You can check train times and
days of running at
www.poezda.net.
Moscow ► Tashkent
|
|
Tashkent ► Moscow
|
|
The "Uzbekistan" |
Train 6: |
The "Uzbekistan" |
Train 5: |
|
Moscow |
depart |
23:16 Mon, Wed,
Fri |
Tashkent |
depart
|
18:55 Tue, Fri,
Sun |
|
Yaisan (Kazak frontier) |
arrive |
12:54 Wed, Fri,
Sun |
Yaisan (Russian frontier) |
arrive |
07:17 Thur, Sun,
Tue |
|
Tashkent |
arrive |
19:15 Thur, Sat,
Mon |
Moscow |
arrive |
15:20 Fri, Mon,
Wed |
You can book train travel in
Russia, including this train, through several Russian
agencies, including:
You can make
arrangements for trains, hotels and tours in Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan through local agencies such as
www.tourasia.kz.
A twice-weekly train, with 2-berth and 4-berth sleepers &
restaurant car, links Moscow with Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.
Moscow ► Bishkek
|
|
Bishkek ► Moscow
|
|
The "Kirgizia" |
Train 18: |
The "Kirgizia" |
Train 17: |
|
Moscow |
depart |
23:16 Thur & Sun |
Bishkek II |
depart
|
09:54
Mon & Thur |
|
Yaisan (Kazak frontier) |
arrive |
12:54 Sat & Tue |
Kaindy (Kazak frontier) |
arrive |
12:49
Mon & Thur |
|
Kaindy (Kirgiz frontier) |
arrive |
00:39
Mon & Thur |
Yaisan (Russian frontier) |
arrive |
07:17
Wed & Sat |
|
Bishkek II |
arrive |
02:34
Mon & Thur |
Moscow |
arrive |
15:20 Thur & Sun |
Tashkent ►
Bokhara
|
|
Bokhara ►
Tashkent
|
|
Train
number: |
2 |
10 |
50 |
662 |
Train
number: |
49 |
9 |
1 |
661 |
|
Tashkent |
depart |
07:00 |
08:45 |
19:00 |
20:00 |
Bokhara |
depart
|
- |
07:20 |
- |
18:40 |
|
Samarkand |
arrive |
10:50 |
12:35 |
23:55 |
01:46 |
Samarkand |
arrive |
07:00 |
10:56 |
17:00 |
00:58 |
|
Bokhara |
arrive |
- |
16:13 |
- |
07:40 |
Tashkent |
arrive |
11:55 |
14:50 |
20:50 |
06:30 |
Train 1 & 2 'Registan'
consists of luxury air-conditioned cars, but only runs Mon,
Thur, Fri, Sat & Sun. .
Train 9 & 10 'Sharq'.
Air-conditioned. Now reported as daily.
Trains 49/50 &
661/662 run daily, with spalny vagon 2-berth sleepers and kupé 4-berth
sleepers.
You can check
times and days of running at
www.poezda.net (Bokhara = Buhara 1)
There are several
other irregular trains between Tashkent & Samarqand.
 |
|
 |
|
Above: The 'Registan'
air-conditioned express from Tashkent to Samarkand.
Photos courtesy of Helmut Uttenthaler. |
Tashkent - Almaty
There is no direct train service
between these cities, though it's possible to go by train,
changing at Arys, or by train+bus via Chimkent. Use
www.poezda.net to check train times. Traveller
Helmut Uttenthaler reports "It's possible to go by train
with changing at Arys. We did this, we had 53 minutes for
our connection from daily train 23 (to Aktjubinsk) to the
twice-weekly train 381 (Ufa - Tashkent). Although train 23
left Almaty with 40 minutes delay, we arrived at Arys on
time. The connecting train was also on time, so no problem.
However, getting tickets in advance from Arys to Tashkent on
train 381can be difficult. Free places for getting on
at Arys are very rare and appear in the "express" booking
system only a few days before departure (as the train comes
from Ufa in Russia). We were three people, and when we
booked our trip to Arys 8 days ahead it was not yet possible
to buy tickets from Arys to Tashkent. Some days later
(4 days ahead) we tried it again and now just 3 free places
appeared for Arys-Tashkent. Two in platskartny, one in kupé.
We bought all of them... However, if we had failed to buy
tickets or had missed our connection we would have made the
way from Arys to Tashkent by taxi, as it's only about 150
km. From locals we heard that they usually take the
train to Chimkent and from there a bus to Tashkent.
But we wanted to go by train all the way."
A twice-weekly train
(one set of coaches Chinese, the other Kazakh) links Almaty with Ürümqi in western China. The
train is called the 'Zhibek Zholy' and it has modern
air-conditioned soft class (4-berth sleeper compartments)
and hard class (open-plan bunks). A Kazak restaurant
car runs Almaty to the frontier at Druzhba, and a Chinese
restaurant car runs from Druzhba to Ürümqi. Eastbound,
you can book this train through local agencies such as
www.tourasia.kz.
Almaty ► Ürümqi
|
|
Ürümqi ► Almaty
|
|
"Zhibek Zholy" |
Train N956 |
"Zhibek Zholy" |
Train N955 |
|
Almaty |
depart |
22:40 Mon & Sat |
Ürümqi |
depart
|
23:58 Mon & Sat |
|
Chinese frontier |
arrive |
21:30 Tues & Sun |
Kazak frontier |
arrive |
06:30 Tue & Sun |
|
Ürümqi |
arrive |
07:08 Wed & Mon |
Almaty |
arrive |
10:27 Wed & Mon |
|
|
 |
|
Above right: The Chinese Almaty-Ürümqi train
at Almaty
Photo courtesy of Mikhail Utkin
Above left: The Kazakh Almaty-Ürümqi
train en route
Photo courtesy of Helmut Uttenthaler.
|
This
train runs daily. It has soft class (4-berth sleeper
compartments) and hard class sleepers (open plan bunks).
There are other trains available between Ürümqi and Xian and
between Xian and Beijing - see the China
page.
Ürümqi ► Beijing
|
|
Beijing ►
Ürümqi
|
|
Eastbound: |
Train T70 |
Westbound: |
Train T69 |
|
Ürümqi |
depart |
14:19 day 1 |
Beijing |
depart
|
19:24 day 1 |
|
Xian |
arrive |
22:28 day 2 |
Xian |
depart |
08:21 day 2 |
|
Beijing |
arrive |
11:14 day 3 |
Ürümqi |
arrive |
15:19 day 3 |
Silk Route &
Central Asia resources...
To check train
times (and days of running) in any of the ex-Soviet states:
www.poezda.net
An excellent personal account:
www.johndarm.clara.net/silkroute
