Turkestan-Siberian Railroad

(Turksib), part of the Kazakh Railroad.

The Turksib runs from Semipalatinsk in the north through Alma-Ata to the Lugovaia station in the south, a distance of 1,452 km. Running through the eastern Kazakh SSR, it connects the republics of Middle Asia with several Siberian regions. The Turksib is connected with the Middle Asian Railroad by the Lugovaia-Arys’ line and with the Western Siberian Railroad by the Semipalatinsk-Novosibirsk line. The route from Novosibirsk to Arys’ via the Turksib is 2,531 km, or 1,000 km shorter than the old route through Cheliabinsk and Orenburg.

The Turksib was one of the largest nationwide construction projects of the first five-year plan (1929–32). The construction of the railroad from 1927 to 1931 was of great national and economic importance, since it provided the shortest connection between Siberia, with its abundance of grain, lumber, and coal, and the cotton-growing regions of southern Kazakhstan and the Middle Asian republics. The railroad brought about increased cultivation of cotton and other industrial crops and rice, and it promoted the development of horticulture and wine growing. The Turkestan-Siberian Railroad furthered the development of the productive forces of Kazakhstan.