Tashkent - Samarkand - Dushanbe train Q&A

[sebhoff]

Here's a question for people with crystal balls: would you expect this train to be full just before Nowruz (departure from Tashkent on 19/03/24, assuming the timetable stays the same)? I'd be arriving in Tashkent only a few days before departure, so I'd consider paying a premium to a travel agency if there's a risk of getting stuck in Uzbekistan...

[Pawel.Travel]

I couldn't find the connection from Tashkent to Dushanbe on the Uzbek railway site: https://eticket.railway.uz. Anybody knows why? It appears on tutu.ru but you cannot buy it as well...

[BertiniAn]

I couldn't find the connection from Tashkent to Dushanbe on the Uzbek railway site: https://eticket.railway.uz. Anybody knows why? It appears on tutu.ru but you cannot buy it as well...

I saw that it was present in the Tajik website: https://www.railway.tj/ru/passengers/schedule. However, I'm not sure you can buy tickets online through that website.

[Milad]

Just buy a ticket at the station. This train usually does not sell out, and you can't board it with an e-ticket anyway.

[algerian_rumba]

Does anybody have experience with purchasing tickets for this train in Dushanbe, and with the border crossing by train into UZ (with a foreign passport)?

[Benmammone16]

Does anybody have experience with purchasing tickets for this train in Dushanbe, and with the border crossing by train into UZ (with a foreign passport)?

I’m currently in Tashkent and just got back from the train station. I asked if I could book the train from Samarkand to Dushanbe and everyone there seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. Eventually someone came up and said the train was already fully booked which seems odd as I was trying to book for a month ahead. I am now just gonna look at taking a shared taxi as it seems easier and it’s a lot quicker. Sorry to disappoint but thought I’d share my experience. If you break the shared taxi rides with buses it works out to be not too expensive.

[sebhoff]

I’d be extremely surprised if that train was fully booked a month ahead. I strongly suspect you’d get a ticket on the day itself in Samarkand. And the train is going to be massively more comfortable than shared taxis and busses.

[teunt1998]

Don't let anyone fool you who tells you that this train is not running, because it is! It cannot be bought online (anymore) though, you have to go to the station to buy the ticket.

The train does Dushanbe-Samarkand-Tashkent on Mondays, departing at 19:26 from Dushanbe, arriving at Samarkand 8:59 and Tashkent 13:42. Tickets can be bought from Dushanbe train station, in the left corner at the ticket office, cash or (only!) VISA. We paid 300 Somoni per person (Platzkart) for Dushanbe-Samarkand. On Tuesdays, it makes the return journey Tashkent-Dushanbe, departing at 15:15 in Tashkent, arriving in Dushanbe 9:33 on Wednesday. While it can't be booked online, this website (https://pass.rw.by/ru/) actually shows how many tickets are still available. We thought it was accurate because immediately after we booked two tickets, they were taken off the available number of tickets. It is in Russian so use Душанбе (Dushanbe), Самарканд (Samarkand) or Ташкент (Tashkent).

EDIT: Just before we left there were still 217 available seats in Platzkart and 5 in Kupe.

EDIT: We arrived at Dushanbe station at 18:00 and immigration was already ongoing on the right sight inside the station. First you will put your bags through an x-ray machine, the guy there asked how much money we had and we just showed him a few Uzbek Som bills in our wallet. To the left happens passport control, which was easy. In our case they did NOT ask for registration papers, we had been in Tajikistan for 6 days. Also they did NOT ask for an immigration card.

The train was quite empty, as expected, which made it quite comfortable! After entering Uzbekistan, border guards enter the train and take your passport. They will search your baggage and go through the train with mirrors, flashlights and a dog. They were all kind and you should be prepared to talk about some famous football players from your country We left Dushanbe at exactly 19:26 and arrived in Samarkand on time as well.

[CentralAsiaAlex]

We attempted to take this train from Dushanbe to Tashkent on Monday.

Casually informed at the railway station that the Tashkent train was cancelled and that I could simply catch it next week.

Almost comedic exchange at the time but a good reminder to have a backup plan! We ended up in a shared taxi to the border at Panjakent. This ended up being cheaper but far less relaxing.

[MyTripMyAdventure]

Train Tashkent - Dushanbe seems to be running once a week on Tuesday (from Tashkent). I didn't buy a ticket, but got the dates confirmed at the Tashkent's North Station today. Time 15:15 as mentioned in previous posts