THE president of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov has officially launched the construction of the 86km Balykchy - Tamchy - Cholpon-Ata railway which is one of the country’s priority infrastructure projects.
The new line is aimed at increasing accessibility to the Issyk-Kul region and is being implemented as part of Kyrgyzstan’s National Development Programme to 2030.
Kyrgyz Railways (KTJ) secured funding last year from the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) for a technical and economic feasibility study for the project. The EDB estimates the cost of the new line at around $US 500m.
Construction will be carried out in two stages. Stage 1 will link Balykchy to Tamchy and the second stage will extend it to Cholpon-Ata.
Balykchy is currently at the end of the 1520mm-gauge line which runs via the capital Bishkek to Lugovaya in Kazakhstan. The president also inspected restoration work carried out on the section from Balykchy station to Balykchy Beach.
In the future, the new line will be extended to create an orbital railway around Lake Issyk-Kul and could be integrated into the China - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan cross-border line.
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