BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 2. The construction of the light rail transit in Kazakhstan’s Astana will be completed within the next two years, Zhenis Kassymbek, Mayor of Astana, said, Trend reports, citing Kazakh media.
According to the city official, the work is on the installation of bored piles currently underway.
“Mobilization work is underway. Also, advance payments for equipment and future trains that will operate on the LRT are being made. It is planned that the project will be implemented in 2023-2024 and by the end of next year it will be launched”, the mayor said.
Earlier, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticized the project, citing that its implementation and maintenance will become a burden for the city. He added, however, that the LRT project is the only way out of the existing transportation issues.
The light rail transit construction was officially launched in July 2011, and the first line was supposed to be completed by the start of 2014. The work was postponed several times, including due to the lack of financing. In 2013 the project was officially scrapped due to financial reasons, only to be brought back to life in 2015. The project was once again canceled in 2022, before being resurrected again recently.