What official website can I use to buy tickets, and will it accept international payment cards? I’ve encountered issues with local websites in other countries rejecting foreign cards.
I’ve purchased tickets on this website:https://bilet.railways.kz/
As alternatives, you can also try tickets.kz or aviata.kz.
I’ve read online that trains are often delayed by 2–4 hours, sometimes even more. Is this true? Does it apply to all routes and seasons? I’m particularly interested in the Uralsk-Astana section over the coming days.
This happened a lot last winter. On the Petropavlovsk–Almaty route nowadays, delays are generally no more than an hour.
I’ve traveled extensively and seen people off at stations this year. Trains still consistently run late. I can’t even recall the last time they were on time. On average, delays range from 40 minutes to 1.5 hours.
Frequent delays are indeed an issue—often blamed on track repairs or extreme winter cold. Honestly, the situation is chaotic. Just last week, I took the Talgo Train #106 from Petropavlovsk to Almaty. It was delayed by 1 hour and 20 minutes overall, with 40 minutes lost on the 3-hour Astana–Karaganda stretch.