Border Crossing by Train: Kazakhstan into Uzbekistan. Advice

[Traveller11]

Hello,

We are travelling by Train from Chimkent, Kazakhstan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan later this year and I wondered if anyone has traveled by this route and what happens when you reach the border crossing point on the Train?

Any help on the 'process' involved in crossing the border would be welcome.

I have looked at the information about Border Crossings on the Forum but there is no information about travelling by train

Thanks

[steven]

Hi Traveller11,

the train stops at the border. Your passport gets checked by border guards on both sides. Then it moves on into Uzbekistan.

Not quite sure what other type of information you are looking for. This is I think how it happens all over the world, no?

There is more info on the KZ-UZB trains at http://caravanistan.com/transport/train/kazakhstan

[Traveller11]

Hello Steven,

Thanks for your reply.

In response to one part of your reply: "This is I think how it happens all over the world, no?"
Having been on a few 'Cross Border' train journeys the short answer is 'No'
If it was just a case of checking your passport then why did it take 1 forum member 5 hours in high temperatures to just get across the Uzbek Border, and if I remember correctly a further 90 minutes for the Kazakh Border?

Our trip a few years ago was a similar experience when travelling between China & Mongolia with a 4 hour wait, on the Mongolian Border point, but OK they had to lift the Train Coaches off the Bogies and then put them on narrower Bogies for the Russian track, and we managed to stay in the coach while they did that, while the rest of the passengers were herded off.
Then our passports appeared around 30 minutes after the train on its new narrower bogies had re-entered the station and was waiting at the station then Immigration came back on board handing back the passports.

In another trip, different countries, we had to remove all our belongings which were then x-ray'd before being allowed back on the train while some passengers had their luggage searched by hand after the x-ray, and 'questionable' items were confiscated.

If it was just a passport check then yes it should happen as you say, but for Uzbekistan you have the other item for entry called a Visa and the details from that have to be entered into the Uzbek Computer System for tracking purposes as ours were when we went into Mongolia.

So 'Plain sailing' it is not while in some cases you cannot even get off the train while stuck at the border crossing.

[steven]

Ok, I got what you mean. In this case, the info is on the train page I linked above. The old slow train has a 6-hour delay as before (very hot without AC), the new train is much quicker through the border.

[Traveller11]

Well I am guessing that we might just be on a Fast Train as the journey from Chimkent to Tashkent takes just over 5 hours, while the train number (001X) even on the Russian Train Ticket website gives no indication of what type it is, be it Fast or Slow.

[steven]

I am not sure now: lots of things have changed train-wise over the past few months in Uzbekistan.

Please let us know if it was a Talgo train or an older model, I would be interested to know.

[Traveller11]

Hi Steven,
I would also like to know but it seems to be rather difficult to identify the type of train as there are no 'indicators' or Icons alongside to let you establish whether it is fast or slow:

I have been looking on https//tickets.kz for tickets from Alma Ata-2 to Chimkent and can only guess that when I see that Train 077T has a journey time of 9:51.
While Train 379T for the same route has a journey time of 17:06!

You then assume that 077T is a Fast 'Choo Choo' and 379T is the Slow one!

BUT.........
The good news for me is that we went shopping yesterday and I found a hard backed book to take with me to read especially for the Border Crossings between Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan.

The book is 2 inches (50mm) thick and having read others by the same author, then I know it will be a good read to pass away the time while sat in a train on a set of railway lines waiting for the Bureaucracy to process the paperwork and let us continue onwards!

Cheers!

[Mrloes]

We just took the train in the opposite direction: Tashkent to Bishkek. Departure time 20:50 (every Thursday in summer), arrival the next day at around 20:00. Same procedure as described above. We didn't have to show any registration slips when exiting Uzbekistan. Some of the border guards speak some English, some don't but there is always someone to translate or in the end you'll just understand what they mean: take your luggage from the seat box, open it so the dogs will be able to smell anything suspicious. No thorough luggage checking, everything went very smoothly, but it takes time to check a whole train. And be prepared for a hot sauna experience!