Women-only carriage added to Almaty–Tashkent overnight train

Kazakhstan Railways is taking its popular women-only carriage scheme across an international border for the first time. Starting October, women taking the daily overnight train between Almaty and Tashkent will soon be able to book a coach reserved for and staffed entirely by female attendants.

The railways operator will add one designated coach to the daily Almaty–Tashkent service, according to Rail News Kazakhstan. It will be part of the existing train, rather than a separate service or premium class.

Only women will be given tickets for the dedicated coach, and all attendants will also be women. The model keeps mixed coaches on the train and adds another choice.

Passengers can select the women-only coach at station ticket offices or through the Kazakhstan Railways booking website. When sold online, eligible places are marked with the Cyrillic label «ЖН». Sales open 45 days before departure.

That schedule makes privacy more than a nuisance. Passengers spend the night in close proximity with strangers, and the new carriage gives women more say in who they travel with.

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Kazakhstan trialled the scheme in-country

Women-only coaches have operated on Kazakhstan’s domestic rail network since 2021. The carrier says more than 946,000 passengers have used them, suggesting the option has moved well beyond its trial phase.

Adding the Almaty–Tashkent service will bring the number of routes offering designated coaches to 14. It is the first to extend the scheme beyond Kazakhstan.

The move also comes less than a year after the Almaty–Tashkent route became a daily Talgo service, increasing capacity to more than 400 passengers a day.

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The southbound train leaves Almaty at 19:05 and reaches Tashkent at 12:53 local time the next day, making the journey just under 18 hours. It departs Tashkent at 14:41 and returns to Almaty at 08:51 in the morning.