ASTANA — Kazakhstan built, reconstructed and repaired more than 19,000 kilometers of roads between 2023 and 2025, while expanding railway infrastructure and domestic flight connections to improve regional connectivity and strengthen its transit capacity.
Photo credit: 24kz
The modernization program includes major infrastructure projects and digital technologies aimed at reducing travel times, improving passenger mobility and accelerating freight transportation along international corridors, according to the Kazakh government’s press office.
Road upgrades improve regional access
Road construction, reconstruction and repairs covered 5,656 kilometers in 2023, increasing to 7,306 kilometers in 2024 before reaching 6,178 kilometers in 2025.
In 2026, work is underway on more than 11,000 kilometers of roads, including 3,400 kilometers of national highway construction and reconstruction, 5,000 kilometers of major and medium-scale repairs on national roads and 2,400 kilometers of local road repairs.
The upgrades come amid growing demand for road transport. According to the Bureau of National Statistics, the number of passengers transported by road rose from 1.5 billion in 2023 to 1.7 billion in 2024 and 1.9 billion in 2025. In the first eight months of 2026, the figure reached 1.3 billion, up 3.9% from the same period in 2025.
Efforts to improve rural accessibility have also advanced. Between 2023 and 2025, work was completed on 10,200 kilometers of local roads, including 556 kilometers of newly built roads, providing year-round connections to district and regional centers.
The government expects 95% of national highways and 92% of local roads to meet technical standards by the end of 2026, up from 92% and 86%, respectively, in 2023. The targets for 2029 are 97% and 94%.
Major highway projects are expected to further reduce travel times and expand interregional and transit connections. Among them is the 896-kilometer Center-West route, which will connect Astana with western Kazakhstan through Arkalyk and Yrgyz.
Railway expansion strengthens passenger and freight transport
Kazakhstan has laid 911 kilometers of new railway tracks over the past five years, with another 800 kilometers under construction and approximately 2,600 kilometers of existing tracks undergoing modernization.
Railways carried a combined 60.2 million passengers between 2023 and 2025. Since the beginning of 2026, Passenger Transportation, a national passenger rail operator, has served 7.5 million passengers, with the highest passenger volumes recorded in Almaty, Astana, Shymkent and the Abai, Aktobe, Karagandy, Kyzylorda and Zhambyl Regions.
Passenger services have also become more accessible. Women-only carriages now operate on 13 routes and have carried 946,000 passengers since their introduction. Passengers with disabilities and their companions are eligible for a 50% fare discount on socially significant routes, while 396,000 tickets for designated accessible spaces were issued in the first seven months of 2026.
Digitalization is also accelerating international freight transportation. The Digital Trade Corridor platform integrates railway systems in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, through a single-window system.
Its Tez (fast in Kazakh) Customs module enables paperless customs transit procedures, reducing clearance times from eight hours to 30 minutes. Combined with other infrastructure and operational improvements, cargo delivery times along the corridor have fallen from 38 days to 13-17 days, according to the government. The next target is to achieve consistent delivery times of 10-12 days for shipments from China to ports in Georgia and Türkiye.
Domestic aviation network expands to 890 weekly flights
Kazakhstan’s domestic aviation network has grown steadily, with airlines operating 630 weekly flights across 51 routes in 2023. This increased to 669 flights across 57 routes in 2024 and 821 flights across 60 routes in 2025. As of September 2026, approximately 890 weekly flights operated across 60 domestic routes.
The expansion has been accompanied by the restoration of regional airports. On Aug. 22, subsidized flights began operating between Arkalyk and Astana, Almaty and Kostanai following the reopening of Arkalyk Airport. Each route operates twice a week, with flights between Arkalyk and Astana taking approximately 40 minutes.
Airport modernization is continuing elsewhere in the country. The runway at Pavlodar Airport was upgraded in 2026, while construction of new airports in Zaisan, Katon-Karagai and the Kenderli resort area is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.
Further runway construction and reconstruction projects are planned through 2029 in Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, Taraz, Aktobe, Oral and Zhezkazgan, alongside terminal upgrades at major airports.
To support air cargo transportation, the government has introduced a 12-year duty-free regime for cargo aircraft and simplified export procedures for selected goods, including aviation-related products, to countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
