Rail transport in Turkmenistan

Rail transport in Turkmenistan
Diesel locomotive CKD9A
Passenger train from Ashgabat to Türkmenbaşy
Gauge :	1520 mm ( Russian gauge )
Legend Türkmenbaşy Balkanabat Border crossing to Kazakhstan Serhetyaka Gyzylgaýa Bereket Etrek Border crossing to Iran Serdar Bamy Baharly Abadan Turnoff to Daşoguz Ashgabat Artyk Duşak Tejen Gleisdreieck direction Sarahs Sarahs Border crossing to Iran Mary Ýsolder Sandykgaçy Çemenebit Serhetabat Border crossing to Afghanistan Cerberus Garabekewül Halaç Kerki Ymamnazar Border crossing to Afghanistan Amyderýa Mukry - turnoff to Magdanly Köýtendag Keleft Border crossing to Turkmenistan Talimarjon Border crossing to Uzbekistan Ashgabat Farap Border crossing to Uzbekistan Turkmenabat Galkynyş Birata Gazojak BORDER Course through Uzbekistan via Urganch BORDER Daşoguz Zarpçy Gubadag Border crossing to Uzbekistan Lawak Takýataş Junction to Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy Border crossing to Uzbekistan

The railway in Turkmenistan is supported by the state railway company Türkmendemirýollary (on a 4980 km long network with a track gauge of 1520 mm Russian broad gauge , 4 feet 11 ²⁷ / ₃₂ inches ) operated.

history

The first broad-gauge railway line in Turkmenistan was opened in 1885 between Krasnovodsk (now Turkmenbaşy ) on the Caspian Sea and Ashgabat . It was extended to Tschardschou (now Turkmenabat ) in 1886 and to Samarkand in what is now Uzbekistan in 1888 . It is part of the Trans-Caspian Railway . The line was initially separated from the rest of the Russian network until 1905 a railway ferry was inaugurated between Krasnovodsk and Baku (Bakı in today's Azerbaijan) . From 1906 there was a route without ferries to Orenburg in Russia, but the ferry remained in operation.

For a short time in the 1980s there was cross-border traffic to Afghanistan , but this was stopped again in 1989 when the Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan. Cross-border traffic to Afghanistan has been resumed since 2007 and a second route was relocated across the border in 2016.

Border disputes with Uzbekistan led to the closure of the international railway connection in 1991, so that the ferry to Azerbaijan was temporarily again the only connection between the Turkmen network and the rest of the world. The Uzbek railway connection remained out of service for several years and has only been used temporarily since then.

Sarahs has had a re- gauging facility for cross-border traffic to Iran since 1996 and another re- gauging facility at Etrek since 2013 . The short cross-border connection to the Iranian border station in Loftabad has no direct connection with the rest of the Iranian network.

A cross-border route to Kazakhstan was opened in 2012. Originally not yet connected to the rest of the Kazakh network, it has been enabling through traffic between Kazakhstan and Iran via the Kazakh main line since 2014.

Karakum Railway Transversal

stretch

→ Main article : List of railway lines in Turkmenistan

Gauges

Most of the lines have a gauge of 1520 mm ( Russian broad gauge ). To the north of Gorgan there is a gauge change facility for a short standard gauge line with a gauge of 1435 mm to the Iranian border.

Bridges and stations

Historically significant in 1890 was the construction of a 1911-meter-long wooden bridge over the Amudarja (Oxus) on the Mary - Samarkand route .

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  Wooden bridge over the Amu Darya (Oxus) on the Mary - Samarkand route , 1890

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  Ashgabat Railway Station , 1901

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  Ashgabat Railway Station, 2011

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  Baharden station , around 1888

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  Bereket station , new building, 2013

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  Farab station , before 1916

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  Türkmenbaşy railway station

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  Passenger train in Türkmenbaşy

Rail vehicles

See: Rail vehicles of the Türkmendemirýollary

Monorail

The Ashgabat monorail is located in the Olympic Village of Ashgabat . It was built from 2012 by the Turkish construction company Polimeks . 25 meter long rail vehicles from Intamin are used on it.

Planned metro

On February 4, 2014, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow discussed his plans for a metro in Ashgabat with the Ukrainian construction magnate Vladimir Petruk , who had already discussed the idea with Berdymukhamedov's predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov , in 2005.

Web links

• Jörg Stadelbauer: Russian Railways in Turkestan, 1993 (PDF file; 2.51 MB)
• List of train stations
• UN map, January 2004
• Along the caravan routes ... Turkmenistan has built about 1000 km of railways in the years of independence. March 2006. (English and Russian).

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e} Glyn Williams: Railways in Turkmenistan.
2. ↑ Iran - Turkmenistan - Kazakhstan rail link inaugurated. Railway Gazette, December 4, 2014.
3. ^ George Dobson: Russia's railway advance into Central Asia. WH Allen & Co. 1890.
4. ↑ Dovletmurad Orazkuliyew (Довлетмурад ОРАЗКУЛИЕВ): Туркменистан: золотой век . turkmenistan.gov.tm. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
5. ↑ Olympic Monorail for 2017 Asian Games . intaminworldwide.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 19, 2017. 
6. ^ Myles G. Smith: Turkmenistan to build another expensive thing it doesn't need. February 7, 2014.
7. ^ Huseyn Hasanov: Subway to be built in Turkmen capital. 5th February 2017.