Since the British inventor Richard Trevithick showed the first steam-powered train in Merthyr Tidville (Great Britain) in 1804, and the first section of the Tsarskoye Selo railway was presented in Russia in 1837, steam-powered railway transport began to actively develop in all industrial developed countries of the Old and New World. And now, at the threshold of the 20th century, the first railway lines were laid across the lands that now make up the territory of independent Kazakhstan.
Over the past years, railways have become a backbone infrastructure for the socio-economic development of Kazakhstan. Numerous railway lines were built to develop the country's export and transit potential. New stations were built along the railway lines, the necessary social infrastructure, cities were erected, industries were emerging and developing. The commissioning of new lines provided internal communications between the regions, gave a powerful impetus to the development of the regions themselves. The railway network connected all regions of the country with transport arteries and provided transport communications and trade between Kazakhstan and the outside world.
At present, about 1 percent of the total population of Kazakhstan works on the country's steel lines, some of them are representatives of the railway dynasties that have raised and nurtured several generations of railway workers.
Today, JSC “NC“ KTZ ”is a transport and logistics holding, an operator of the main railway network of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a national railway carrier of goods and passengers.
Chronology
In 1904, the first trans-Kazakh highway Orenburg - Tashkent was opened, stretching for 1668 kilometers from the border with Russia in the north-west to the border with Uzbekistan in the south.
· In 1914-1917. built Semirechenskaya road Arys - Pishpek - part of the future Turksib,
· In 1915 - the Chelyabinsk - Troitsk - Kostanay highway (across Kazakhstan - 166 km).
· In 1915-1917. part of the Altai railway (Novosibirsk - Semipalatinsk).
1920-1922 - the Petropavlovsk - Kokchetav section was built. In 1926-1931. continued through st. Resort - Borovoe and Akmolinsk to Karaganda, its total length exceeded 700 km.
· In 1924 the line Kulunda - Pavlodar was built.
· 1927-1930 construction of the Turkestan-Siberian railway (Turksib) with a length of 1444 km.
· In the 30s. XX century The sections Akmolinsk - Karaganda and Karaganda - Balkhash (490 km), Chimkent - Lenger were built.
· In 1930 the line Lokot - Zashchita (235 km), extended to Leninogorsk and Zyryanovsk.
· In 1936-1939. a section was laid, Uralsk - Iletsk with access to Saratov.
· In 1936-1944. built highway Guryev (Atyrau) - Kandagach - Orsk
In 1939-1943 the Akmolinsk - Kartaly line, which ensured, in particular, the efficient delivery of Karaganda coal to the South Urals. In the same years, the Koksu - Tekeli - Taldykorgan and Atasu - Karazhal sections were commissioned. The length of Kazakhstani steel lines has reached 10 thousand km.
· By 1950, the Mointy-Shu section (440 km) was built. As a result, the Trans-Siberian Railway merged with the Turkestan-Siberian Railway and formed the first meridian line that passed through the entire territory of the republic - the Transkazakhstan Railway Petropavlovsk - Kokchetav - Akmolinsk - Karaganda - Shu.
· By 1953, one of the main links of the South Siberian railway was built - Akmolinsk (Astana) - Pavlodar (546 km)
· In 1955-1961. the line Esil - Arkalyk (224 km) was created, by 1959 - Kostanay - Tobol, by 1960 - Tobol - Dzhetygara. In the 1950s, the density of Kazakhstan's railway network doubled.
· On July 1, 1958, the largest Kazakh railway in the USSR was formed. With a length of over 11 thousand km, it consisted of 15 branches.
· In 1959, the Aktogay - Druzhba section was built.
· In the 1960s. the sections Makat - Mangyshlak and Mangyshlak - Uzen were laid (total length is almost 900 km). The revitalization of relations between Kazakhstan and Russia during this period was facilitated by the intensive operation of the constructed line Guryev - Astrakhan.
· In 1964, for the first time in Kazakhstan, the Tselinograd (Astana) - Karaganda section was electrified. Work began on the electrification of railways in the northern and central regions of the republic.
· In 1969-1970. the entire section Karaganda - Magnitogorsk (1180 km) was transferred to electric traction.
· In April 1977, on the basis of the Kazakh railway, three roads were formed: Tselinnaya, Alma-Atinskaya and West Kazakhstan.
· Since the 1980s. electrification affected the southern highways: Mointy - Shu, Chengeldy - Arys, Arys - Tyulkubas. The total length of electrified lines has approached 4 thousand km.
· In September 1990, the railways of Kazakhstan and China joined at the border crossing connecting the Kazakh station Druzhba with the Chinese station Alashankou.
1991 - the movement of freight trains along the Northern Corridor of the Trans-Asian Railway was opened
· In 1997, the first stage of transformations in the industry began with the creation of the republican state enterprise "Kazakhstan temir zholy".
· In 2001, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Railway Transport" and the Program for the Restructuring of Railway Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2001-2005 were adopted.
· In 2002, on the basis of the Republican State Enterprise “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy”, a closed joint-stock company “National Company“ Kazakhstan Temir Zholy ”was established with a 100% state block of shares.
· From 2002 to 2004 the joint stock companies “Militarized Railway Guard”, “Zholzhndeushi”, “Remput”, “Kaztransservice”, “Kedentransservice”, “Transtelecom”, “Center of Transport Service” and others were created.
· In 2004, CJSC "NC" KTZh "was transformed into a joint-stock company" National company "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy"
· In 2001, the launch of a new railway line "Aksu-Degelen" with a length of 187 km. The new road opened the shortest way from the Semey region to Pavlodar.
· In 2004, the construction of the Khromtau-Altynsarino railway line with a length of 404 km was completed, which connected Kostanay and Aktobe regions.
· In 2008, the 150 km Shar-Ust-Kamenogorsk railway line completed the connection of the national railway network within the borders of Kazakhstan.
· In 2012, the launch of the Zhetygen-Altynkol (Khorgos) railway line provided the second railway crossing on the border with China.
· In 2014, the heads of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran opened traffic on the international transport corridor "Uzen - Bereket - Gorgan".
· In 2010, the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan adopted a new program for the development of transport infrastructure until 2014.
· Since 2011, in accordance with the instructions of the Head of State, the business of JSC “NC“ KTZh ”has been dynamically transforming.
JSC "NC" KTZh "from a railway company was transformed into a transport and logistics holding with the task of developing the transit potential of Kazakhstan and global infrastructure integration.
The company implements infrastructure projects within the framework of the state. program "Nurly Zhol", participates in the implementation of the Plan of the Nation "100 Concrete Steps", continues to modernize transport assets, participates in the institutional development of international transport corridors and the elimination of non-physical barriers to transportation