Tajikistan - Visit Reports
June 2024
Extract from a visit report by Miika Nicholson in June 2024
Friday 21st June 2024
FLIGHT: Almaty 09:55 to Dushanbe 11:45 Air Astana (connecting flight)
Hotel: Green House Hostel, Dorm Room, £7
Arrived at Dushanbe at 11:45 and got through immigration pretty quick with no bribery type issues. As I was travelling on my Finnish passport, Tajikistan was visa free (UK passport holders need an e-visa which I've heard can be complicated to obtain as the system takes your money but doesn't issue a visa). From the airport I walked to my hostel in about 30 minutes.
Once I had checked in, I walked to the station to buy my ticket to Tashkent and enquire about the Kulyab train. The ticket to Tashkent was purchased with ease (about £30 in platskartny - not cheap), and information about the Kulyab train matched the information online on the Tajik railway website. I watched the 17:40 commuter train depart with DMU DR1B 3714 and then spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep and generally just walking around the city. I was told off for photographing the station and train as I left by the police officer that had been watching me.
www.railway.tj (for timetable information in Tajikistan) - train 6373/6374 is usually a DMU but can be substituted by a TEM2.
Saturday 22nd June
Train: Dushanbe 08:40 to Kulyab 16:26 (arrival 2 hours late) 2TE10V 3946 (Dushanbe to Zheleznodorozhny) 2TE10V 4732 (Zheleznodorozhny to Kulyab)
Hotel: None (invited to sleep on the train by the staff with £7 payment)
Arrived at the station with what I thought was plenty of time, but unlike the day before when the doors to the platform were open, this time they were locked. There were people waiting in the station building but as the time approached 08:30 and I couldn't get on the platform, I felt something was wrong. It turns out the station was being prepared for the 10:08 departure to Volgograd - and as Dushanbe is the border for international trains, immigration and customs block off certain parts of the station. I was kindly pointed in the right direction to access the platform from a side gate 100 meters down the street, and made the train just as the guards were starting to close the doors.
The train departed Dushanbe almost empty, but by the second station it was full and standing. The platskartny carriages used were wood panelled of sorts and had no air con. It was extremely hot! The first half of the journey we were hauled by 3946, and for the second half by 4732. I did my best to talk to the guards using my limited Russian (sadly I didn't have a SIM card as my eSIM had refused to work). As I had explained to them I was a train driver from the UK, they introduced me to the drivers, who offered a cab ride for the rest of the trip - plenty of black smoke, engine restarts etc.
At Kulyab, the onboard train staff offered the platskartny carriage as a bed for me (a very hot night) but before that, the driver took me for an excellent bbq dinner with beers. After about 4 beers we both thought it would be a good idea to get my wife on a WhatsApp video call and for the first time that day I had a good conversation with the driver (my wife speaks Russian so acted as an excellent translator).
Note: The police officer at Kulyab station did question me a fair bit about what I was doing photographing the train but the staff all looked out for me and after about 20 minutes he gave up with me.
Sunday 23rd June
Train: Kulyab 08:00 to Dushanbe 15:36 (arrival 2 hours late) 2TE10V 4732 (Kulyab to Zheleznodorozhny) 2TE10V 3946 + 4732 (Zheleznodorozhny to Dushanbe)
Hotel: Green House Hostel, Dorm, £7
I was in the cab until the halfway point, after which I rejoined the passengers in squishy class. The cab was far more comfortable. Once back in Dushanbe, I made my way back to the hostel and again spent the rest of the evening walking around the city. I did also see the 17:40 commuter train depart which again was the same DMU.
Monday 24th June
Train: Dushanbe 19:26 to Tashkent 13:43(+1) TE33A 0114 (Dushanbe to Sariasiya) 2TE10M 2716 (Sariasiya to Kumkurgon) 2OZUY 0505A/B (Kumkurgon to Tashkent)
Hotel: None (night train)
Spent the morning/afternoon in the city. It's changed a lot since my last visit in 2011. Then walked to the station ready for the 19:26 to Tashkent. I saw the 17:40 commuter train depart, but this time hauled by a TEM2. Immigration and customs for Tajikistan exit was carried out at Dushanbe station, and afterwards I somehow managed to photograph the TE33A without being told off. Absolutely no bribery issues or any other kind of hassle. The train left on time, with barely any passengers onboard (and it stayed like that all the way to Tashkent) so don't worry about ticket availability. The carriages were air conditioned.
The first loco swap was at the Uzbekistan border station, and the second swap was at Kumkurgon, where the train was also reversed.
