Baku, Azerbaijan, March 19
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will launch a regular railway connection over Tashkent – Bishkek – Rybachye (Issyk-Kul) – Tashkent route, Uzbek media announced on March 19.
According to the information, the first train will depart from Tashkent Central Railway Station on 20:50 (GMT 5+) March 22. It will consist of 9 cars, including a deluxe, a coupe, reserved seats and a restaurant car. The train will house 300 passengers.
The Uzbek Railways told Sputnik Uzbekistan news agency that the reserved seat ticket price will begin from 378,000 soums, the coupe tickets – 515,000 soums. Journey time will be 25 hours. The trains will travel only on Thursdays.
The new railway route will be a good budget alternative for Uzbeks willing to visit Issyk-Kul or Bishkek. A plane ticket to Bishkek currently costs $90-160.
In 2017, Uzbek Airways launched a seasonal flight to Tamchi airport (Issyk-Kul). Ticket prices had been $100 or more.
The countries also plan to launch four bus lines: Tashkent-Bishkek, Fergana-Osh, Andijan-Osh and Tashkent-Issyk-Kul.
(8140.06 soums = 1 USD on March 19)