Wagons are being retired faster than they can be renewed, says the deputy.

“We are still unable to compete in the railway transport market. The main factors hindering the growth of railway transport's share are: low speed, high wear and organizational issues. Currently, the retirement of rolling stock due to age and technical condition significantly outpaces the rate of renewal,” said Nurtai Sabilyanov during a government hour in the Mazhilis on the development of the country's transport and logistics potential.

According to him, from 2014 to 2023, 928 new passenger cars were introduced, while 969 cars were retired due to physical wear. Specifically, from 2020 to 2023, 319 units were added and 412 were retired.

He also pointed out that there is a high rate of wear in the railway networks—54%, and in locomotives—61%, with the share of track length rated unsatisfactory increasing annually.

“If the length of railway networks exceeds 16,000 km, then more than half of them require repairs. Additionally, the current fleet of passenger cars consists of 2,667 units, of which 1,012 units, or 38%, are old cars that have been in operation for over 28 years,” said Sabilyanov.

The deputy reminded that from 2012 to 2022, 676 passenger cars manufactured by Talgo were acquired at prices ranging from 350 to 650 million tenge. Subsequently, passenger cars were purchased from LLP “ZIKSTO” (the ultimate beneficiaries being Duoba Andrey Alexandrovich and Mar Sergey Alexandrovich through LLP “PremiumVagonKomplekt”) with plans to acquire 150 units from 2023 to 2024 at prices from 750 to 850 million tenge.

“Currently, negotiations are underway with the Swiss company LLP 'Stadler Kazakhstan' for the acquisition of 557 cars, with the price per sleeper car being 1.18 billion tenge. Therefore, the national carrier must provide passengers with new comfortable cars,” concluded Sabilyanov.