Aktau to Nukus by train

[itfcfan]

Hi guys, at the moment there are no trains running between Nukus and Beyneu or Mangistau. Did anybody cross the west border to Kazakhstan recently and cand advise on alternatives? Thank you!

There was recent news that this train has (or should have?) restarted in April:

According to the company, starting from April 1, 2022, train No. 647/648 will start running on the Nukus (Uzbekistan)-Beyneu (Kazakhstan)-Nukus route.

This train will depart from the Nukus station on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays will return from the Beyneu station.

https://www.azernews.az/region/190928.html

When I check the Kazakhstan state railway website, it shows this train on the timetable:
https://bilet.railways.kz/sale/default/station/schedule (enter BEINEU as the station and choose a Monday/Wednesday/Saturday for the day)

If I try and book a seat on this train using the same website, I'm told "No vacancies" for the dates over the next couple of weeks I attempted. It might be that tickets are only available locally or possibly the train isn't actually running yet. Either way, the situation looks more hopeful than in 2020/2021 but until tickets start being sold and someone actually sees the train running it won't be 100% certain.

In answer to your question, I'm not sure of alternatives, but now crossing Kazakh/Uzbek border by land no longer requires an IDC permit, hitch-hiking could be an option? The border crossing page on this website has some info, as does the forum topic referenced by it:
https://caravanistan.com/border-crossin ... tan/#tejen
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1913

Good luck!

[elhabibi]

Thank you for your reply! I checked in the meanwhile at the ticket office in Khiva and they told me no trains run to Khazakstan at the moment, not even the connection from Tashkent to Shymkent. The lady also told me they don't think it will open very soon, so I might need to look into a shared taxi or hitchhike to the border.

[RobinM]

Thank you for those precious informations.
Coming from aktau, we are planning to cross the Kazakhstan- Uzbekistan border in a week.
Could you tell us how you managed to reach Nukus or even Samarkand without train running at the time ?
Thanks

[missmax8]

On 4th May 2022, we came from Aktau to Kungrad, city located 2h before Nukus
This was our journey:
1) Night train Aktau->Beyneu
2) Shared taxi to the border (1 hour)
3) Hitchhiked to Qaraqalpakia (there are also taxis) (30 min)
4) Train Qaraqalpakia->Kungrad
All smoothly. Overall from Aktau to Kungrad it was almost 24 hours because of waiting time between the transports. Info: at the border on the Uzbek side there is a good chaykane with good plov, salads, shashlik, tea...
Don't hesitate to contact me if you need more info

[elhabibi]

Thank you for those precious informations.
Coming from aktau, we are planning to cross the Kazakhstan- Uzbekistan border in a week.
Could you tell us how you managed to reach Nukus or even Samarkand without train running at the time ?
Thanks

Here is my experience from the 11th of may: I took the train from Nukus to Karakalpakiya, then found a cab in the Bus station that charged 80000 som to take me to the Tejen border, I think it was a 34-40 min drive. Once arrived ar the Uzbek border, the officer checked all my registration slips and tried to build the timeline of my stay and ensure I am covered for most of the days. He asked me a couple of questions about what I do and where I am from, somehow to confirm my identity, then asked me to show him the last 3-4 pics on my phone to make sure I didn't take any pictures at the border point. This took around 15-20 min, then walked on to the uzbek passport check where they gave me an exit stamp and scanned my luggage. Then on the kazakh side things went pretty smooth, they saw I'm a tourist to they asked me to come in front of the line. They checked my passport and my PCR test 3 times. So the PCR test is definitely required to cross the border, they don't seem to care much about vaccination unless you are from one of the few countries who's vaccines are recognised by the Kazakhstan government.

Notes for cyclists: the road to the border on the Uzbek side is in pretty bad shape in some spots, on the Kazakh side tho the road has been recently fixed and is easy to navigate. I even saw a guy roller skating with a backpack towards the border, that's a first I met a cyclist on the train that gave up biking on the Uzbek side and just took the train to the border.

Once I arrive in Aktau I learned from another traveller that there is a bus that goes from Nukus to Aktau ar a faster pace, might be worth looking into that as well.

[RobinM]

Thanks everyone for your precious feedback.
I eventually managed to take the train between Beyneu and Nukus which has restarted a couple days ago. I book my ticket online on ticket.kz
The train is leaving around 3am from Beyneu every 2 or 3 times per week.

[cm2022]

Thanks everyone for this useful info on this thread.

RobinM, how did you pay for your train tickets? I have tried to purchase tickets via tickets.kz however it is declining all my cards.
Does anyone also know if it is possible to purchase the Beyneu - Nukus tickets from Uzbek railways?

Strangely the Kazakh railways only shows a few seats available however Uzbek railways shows lots!

[Matt]

Hi everyone

We arrived in Beyneu today (31 May) by bike and went to the train station to buy tickets to Nukus. We had bo problem buying tickets at the train station in Beyneu for a train at 3.38am tomorrow morning (even though the KZ website it said the train was sold out). The trains are only three times a week, so we were delighted to make the train early tomorrow morning.

For cyclists, the train station staff said that they only sell tickets and it’s the conductors decision whether to allow the bikes on board - so fingers crossed!

[cm2022]

Additional report from 4th June - arrived in Beyneu at around 5pm, immediately bought tickets for the train to Nukus leaving at 3.38am the next morning (currently goes 3x / week). Same as above, no problem getting tickets despite showing sold out on Kazakh trains website. It also seemed possible to buy tickets on the Uzbek Railways app.

The train had 5 carriages, bring food as no restaurant car (but vendors do occasionally appear on the train!). Old train, platzkartny style and really busy carriages but it was possible to fold down a bed and get a lie down. 40 minute stop on the Kazakh side of the border, 2 hours on the Uzbek side. No need to get off the train, border guards were generally friendly. Vaccine passports OK, no PCR required. People who didn't have tests were tested on the Uzbek border directly.

Total journey time approx 14 hours. Not top comfort of course but a really good experience! If anyone needs further info feel free to message me.

[AdamN]

Hi All,
We have tickets booked for the 1am Beyneu - Urgench train on the 7th (July), which we managed to book through the Uzbek rail website, however given the current state of emergency and curfew in Karakalpakstan does anyone know whether this train is currently running?

Thanks in advance.