Astana Airport connected to city via automated light rail

Image: Press Service of the President of Kazakhstan

The capital of Kazakhstan has officially launched Astana LRT, an elevated light rail transit system connecting Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ) with the city center. The airport’s domestic terminal is directly integrated with the new LRT station via a covered pedestrian skywalk.

“This new transit link will significantly reduce travel times, ease road congestion, and provide a more seamless and comfortable journey for thousands of passengers daily,” airport officials stated.

The 22.4 km line features 18 stations and will be operated by a fleet of 15 Chinese-manufactured Triton automated trains. Each train has a capacity of 652 passengers, and the travel time for the entire route is approximately 40 minutes at an average operating speed of 50 to 60 km/h. Trains will run with headways of 5 to 6 minutes, and daily ridership is projected to reach 25,000 to 35,000 passengers.

The project, which the airport press service fittingly describes as “long-awaited,” has a prolonged development history. The initial LRT concept was introduced back in 2011, followed by a framework agreement signed with Chinese partners in 2015. Construction on the first phase began in 2017 but was completely halted between 2019 and 2022. Work resumed and entered an active phase in 2023, leading to the commercial launch three years later. The total project cost is estimated at approximately US$1.8 billion.

The automated light rail project was commissioned by the Kazakh state-owned enterprise, City Transportation Systems. The primary contracting work was handled by a Chinese consortium consisting of BESAM, CRIC 2, and CRAEC, with China State Construction Engineering Corporation International serving as the subcontractor. Additional international expertise included the Turkish engineering firm TRT for consultancy, and LocoTech-Signal Asia, a competence center of Russia’s TMX-IS, which implemented the microprocessor-based interlocking for the rail infrastructure.

The operations control center features fully automated train control, managing acceleration, braking, door operations, and emergency responses. However, a manual override capability has been retained for contingency purposes. Planning is already underway for Phase 2 of the LRT project, which will add 26.5 km of track and 20 new stations to the network.

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