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Urumqi to Almaty/Astana International Train

Urumqi to Almaty/Astana International Train

Written by FabioUpdated Nov. 22, 2023

Train is a comfortable and affordable way traveling between China and Kazakhstan. There are 2 pairs of weekly international trains linking Urumqi and Almaty/Astana: train K9795 departs on every Monday travels from Urumqi to Almaty to Astana; train K9795 departs on every Saturday travels from Urumqi to Almaty.

Basic Information of Urumqi to Almaty Train

  • Train number: K9795 Urumqi-Almaty
  • Distance: 1,050 km (651 miles)
  • Departure: Urumqi Railway Station at 23:33 every Monday and Saturday
  • Arrival: Almaty Railway Station at 23:00 every Tuesday and Sunday
  • Duration: about 24 hours
urumqi to almaty train K9795 from Urumqi to Almaty

Basic Information of Urumqi to Astana Train

  • Train number: K9797 Urumqi-Almaty-Astana
  • Distance: 1,898 km (1,178 miles)
  • Departure: Urumqi Railway Station at 23:33 every Monday
  • Arrival: Astana Railway Station at 11:00 every Wednesday
  • Duration: about 38 hours

Urumqi-Almaty/Astana Train Schedules

Terminals:

  • Urumqi Railway Station (Chinese: 乌鲁木齐站); Address: 1 Gaotiebeiliu Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. 新疆维吾尔自治区乌鲁木齐市经济技术开发区高铁北六路1号
  • Almaty Railway Station

(Updated on January 8th, 2020)

K9797 Urumqi – Almaty – Astana (departs on Monday weekly)
Travel day Station Country Day Arrival Departure
1 Urumqi Railway Station (乌鲁木齐站) China Monday   23:33
2 Korgas Tuesday 12:30 18:00
3 Almaty Kazakhstan Wednesday 05:11 05:20
Astana 11:00  

*The times listed above are local time.

K9795 Urumqi – Almaty (departs on Saturday weekly)
Travel day Station Country Day Arrival Departure
1 Urumqi Railway Station (乌鲁木齐站) China Saturday   23:33
2 Korgas Sunday 12:30 18:00
Almaty Kazakhstan 23:00  

*The times listed in the timetable are local time.

What You Need to Know

Hard sleeperUrumqi to Almaty/Astana train

1. There are five carriages on Urumqi to Almaty/Astana train. Only soft sleeper class (four berths in a private compartment, with a lockable door) is available.

2. International train between Urumqi and Almaty/Astana doesn't have a dining car. Food and drink are not available onboard. Please buy your own food before taking the train.

3. The train will change its locomotive at Khorgas (a border city in Xinjiang, China) when the train stops at 12:30, Beijing Time. It will take 1.5-2 hours. During this time, all passengers will need to get off the train.

4. You will need to go through the customs at Khorgas to leave China.

5. At Altynkol, a border city in Kazakhstan, you will need to go through the customs again to enter Kazakhstan. The train will stop at this city for around 1.5 hours.

How to Book the Ticket

Hard sleeper Hard sleeeper on Urumqi to Almaty/Astana train

Reservation of international tickets open 30 days before departure. You can buy the ticket at designated ticket office in Ya Ou Hotel, or with travel agencies like China Highlights. Only cash (RMB) is accepted at ticket office and no English is spoken. So you are recommended to buy an international train ticket online with China Highlights. We provide detailed and helpful English guidance and a 24/7 service. A ticket delivery service is also available.

Required documents: photocopies of all the passengers' passports and visas are required when make the booking.

Children's tickets:

  • Children under 4 years old and accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket are ticket free if they don't occupy individual berths. A child ticket needed to be bought if you want to get a berth for the child.
  • Children between 4 and 12 years old can buy child tickets.
  • Children above 12 years old need to buy adult tickets with full fare.

Search the train and make a booking now.

Luggage Policy

Free Baggage Allowance

  • Adult: 36 kg
  • Child: 15 kg

Baggage Size

Each baggage shouldn't exceed 200 cm (79 inches) by length+width+height.

Things That Tou Cannot Take With You on The Train

  • Weaponry: all kinds of guns
  • Dangerous items: knives including daggers, kitchen knives, table knives, flick knives, Swiss Army Knives and axe, etc.
  • Toxics: cyanide, arsenic, selenium powder, phenol, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen nitrate, etc.
  • Explosive items: alcohol, hydrogen, methane, ethane, butane, natural gas, ethylene, propylene, acetylene, etc.
  • Bicycles, including foldable bycicles

Our Customers' Feedback

information board Information Board

Customer Susana traveling on June 29, 2019: "Kevin was very reliable and he delivered me the train ticket perfectly. Buying the ticket was hard but in Urumqi everything was very normal and the train departed as usual. At the border all Chinese citizens alighted and only foreigners remained. We arrived to the border on Sunday at 12pm and were asked to wait for three hours until the border opening. Then procedures took more than one hour. We got into the same train again, with Chinese crew. We cleared the border with Kazakhstan in another hour and continued traveling. We arrived at Almaty on Sunday night. In total we spent around six hours at the border and people were always polite.
Thanks again for your help, it was a perfect service from you and Kevin".

Customer Marie traveling on July 6, 2019: "Important point is the fact we stayed at the Chinese boarder around 6 hours (from 11 to 17). We have to go down from the train and wait inside the railway station."

international train k9795

Feedback shared by slowtraveltoasia.ch:

Day 1

  • 23:33 boarding time.
  • 23:45 leaving urumqui.

Day 2

  • 8:00 arrial a la sankau.
  • 9:45 chinese passport control in train and then we need to go with language to police control. There we are asked to show our sell phone, tablets, cameras and computers. then they scaned our biometric face and our language and asked us why we visited china, and why so long and two times. Finally they returned our passports.
  • 10:35 we could go back to the train.
  • 11:00 we leave chinese station and cross border.
  • (time changes: minus 2 hours)
  • 9:20 (Beijing time: 11:20) kasachische border control.
  • 10:00 (Beijing time: 12:00) stamp to enter kasachstan and kasach customes in train, we do not have to leave the train.
  • 10:30 (Beijing time: 12:30) train leave boarder check point.
  • 10:45 (Beijing time: 12:45) gauge change: we need to get out of train, train leaves station.
  • 11:30 (Beijing time: 13:30) still waiting for train to come back.
  • 12:20 (Beijing time: 14:20) gauge changed train comes back, we enter train again.
  • 14:40 (Beijing time: 14:40) train leaves on kasach gauge to next station. the journey takes one night more.

Day 3

  • We arrive in the next morning in Almaty.

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