BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 7. A feasibility study is being developed in Kyrgyzstan for the construction of a circular railway around Issyk-Kul Lake, said Dastan Usubakunov, Deputy Director of the state-owned company "Kyrgyzstan Railways," in an interview with a local media outlet, Trend reports.
"The railway will be built in a circular route, like a ring road. Currently, we are working on this project. The feasibility study is underway. We aim to implement the project within five to six years," Usubakunov stated.
The planned route will follow this path: on the northern shore, the railway will run from Balykchy through Tamchy to Cholpon-Ata, and on the southern shore, from Balykchy through Bokonbaev to Karakol.
Issyk-Kul represents a unique hydrological phenomenon as an endorheic saline lake situated within the western Tianshan Mountain range, located in the eastern sector of Kyrgyzstan, immediately south of the geomorphological boundary delineating Kyrgyzstan from Kazakhstan. This body of water ranks as the eighth-deepest lake globally, while also being the eleventh-largest by volumetric capacity, albeit not in terms of surface area. It holds the distinction of being the deepest lake, with its nadir positioned above sea level at an impressive 939 meters (3,080 feet), and is classified as the third-largest saline lake in existence.