Astana, 11 November. The first passenger train made up of Stadler cars built in Kazakhstan left Nurly Zhol station: the new cars will run daily in train No. 3/4 Nurly Zhol — Almaty-2, the Ministry of Transport said.
At the ceremony Deputy Minister of Transport Zhanibek Tayzhanov called the renewal of the passenger fleet an important step in modernising transport. Sleeper compartment cars are designed for 40 passengers and open-plan sleeper cars for 58; they operate at temperatures from −50 to +45 degrees, with a service life of 40 years. The cars have climate control, individual lighting, 220 V sockets, USB and USB-C ports, Wi-Fi, video surveillance and luggage areas; conditions have been created for passengers with limited mobility, and the train includes a buffet car. The cars underwent certification tests from September 2025 to May 2026, Digital Business reported.
Under the signed contract, 557 cars are to be delivered in stages by 2030, followed by service maintenance; more than 100 have been accepted so far. The next train made up of Stadler cars will run on the Nurly Zhol — Semey route on 13 November. Tickets are sold on bilet.railways.kz and at railway ticket offices.
What it means: The first train made up of cars built in Kazakhstan with Swiss technology has started on the Astana — Almaty line, and the number of such cars in the fleet is growing: more than 100 have already been accepted of those ordered by 2030.
Background: Spanish Talgo cars appeared in Kazakhstan before the Swiss ones. In 2010 Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) signed a contract with Patentes Talgo to supply a further 436 cars. In December 2011 the Tulpar-Talgo joint venture in Astana began producing cars. The first train of Kazakh assembly arrived from Almaty in Petropavlovsk on 2 July 2012: the journey took 18 hours instead of 30. The plant built 436 cars in 2012–2015 and a further 178 with a wider body in 2015–2017, the plant's reference says. In October 2019 Deputy Industry Minister Berik Kamaliyev said the contract with Talgo had been terminated and that the plant was looking for an investor: the sale of a 99% stake to Transmashholding for 23 million euros was cancelled. In March 2020 KTZ board chairman Sauat Mynbayev named the reasons for abandoning Talgo as the small number of seats per car — from 8 to 20 — the high cost and maintenance costs, Inbusiness wrote. In 2019 KTZ bought 63 cars from the Tver Carriage Works for about 20 billion tenge, according to its representative, but the head of Passenger Transportation later said the company would cut purchases. KTZ announced Stadler in March 2022 as its partner for producing cars at the Tulpar plant; according to the Passenger Transportation report, the contract provided for 537 cars by the end of 2030. Stadler bought the plant and rebuilt it in 2023–2024, and serial production began in early 2025.
