Kyrgyzstan - Visit Reports

June 2024

Report from Miika Nicholson

Friday 28th June 2024

Train: Chimkent (Kazakhstan) 18:17 to Lugovaya (Kazakhstan) 01:23 KZ4AT 0018

Hotel: None (night train, kind of)

Spent the morning walking around the city, then walked to the station for the 18:17 to Lugovaya. This train had no air con and it was horrendous. No drop down windows and no air con is not a good combination. Glad to be off at Lugovaya but severely lacking sleep.

Saturday 29th June

Train: Lugovaya 03:28 to Bishkek 2 10:12 2TE10V 5051 (A end only) 6 passenger carriages (platskartny and kupe) plus 2 parcel carriages

Train: Bishkek 2 to Bishkek 1 TEM2 2998 6 passenger carriages

Hotel: Wake Up Bishkek, Dorm, £7

I spent 2 hours or so at Lugovaya before my onward connection to Bishkek. There is nothing at Lugovaya station. The train to Bishkek was only 5 hours in duration, most of which was spent doing exit procedures for Kazakhstan and entry procedures for Kyrgyzstan. Arrived Bishkek shattered! The 2TE10V (half loco only) that was coupled on at Lugovaya worked the whole way to Bishkek (no change at the border).

Walked to the hostel before heading back to the station after a nap.

Bishkek has two commuter rail services. One starts at Bishkek 1 and travels eastbound through Bishkek 2. The other starts at Bishkek 2, and travels westbound through Bishkek 1. Both are loco hauled. One is a TEM2, the other is a 2TE10V. Inbound into Bishkek in the morning, outbound in the afternoon. I don't have the full timings but they "meet" at Bishkek 2 at 17:40. I caught the TEM2 hauled commuter train from Bishkek 2 to Bishkek 1, then a bus back into town.

Sunday 30th June

Train: Bishkek 2 07:40 to Balykchy 11:46 Train: Balykchy 18:12 to Bishkek 2 22:18 TE33A 0279 Platskartny, Seated, Lux and VIP carriages

Hotel: None (slept at airport / on plane)

A day trip on the summer only service to Issyk Kul Lake. I couldn't buy these tickets myself so I used one of my wife's contacts in Bishkek to buy them for me (website www.kjd.kg which appears to have an up to date timetable for international routes). I met a Russian rail enthusiast the day before who was also on the train from Lugovaya to Bishkek, and we both travelled in the VIP carriage to Balykchy which I highly recommend for comfort. There are no stops between Bishkek and Balykchy.

At Balykchy he rented a taxi (or more accurately he paid a rail worker with a car to drive us for 3 hours) and chase the daily freight working hauled by a 2TE10V up and down the valley. Once back in Bishkek, I had dinner before heading to the airport at 1am for yet another sleepless night.

Monday 1st July

FLIGHT: Bishkek 05:30 to Istanbul 08:20 Pegasus £200 approx FLIGHT: Istanbul 11:30 to London Stansted 13:30 Pegasus (connecting flight)