Between January and August 2026, around 306.5 billion tenge could have been spent on completing the first branch of Astana's light rail transit (LRT) system and launching construction of the line toward Kosshy. That conclusion follows from statistical data, and DATA HUB analysts note it is the highest spending in the past 10 years, according to infohub.kz.
Specialists at the First Credit Bureau based their findings on data on spending for railway and metro construction in the capital from January to August 2026. They estimate that 306.5 billion tenge could have been spent on the capital's LRT over the eight months. The figure was the highest for the same period in the past decade and was twice the 2025 level.
The first phase of the LRT opened on May 13, and by May it was already known that construction of the second phase had begun: the first support pillar was poured on the section heading toward Kosshy. Experts suggested that by August, 146.1 billion tenge could have been spent on the second phase — 47% of all spending over the eight months. That is exactly the amount spent in July and August, when the first line had already been completed.
Since 2017, total construction work on the capital's railways and metro has amounted to 756 billion tenge. Part of that sum could have gone toward expanding Astana's rail network, but the LRT also accounted for a significant share of the spending.
City Transportation Systems board chairman Asylbek Duisebayev previously said the cost of the completed portion of the LRT alone stands at $1.8 billion — about 800 billion tenge at the current exchange rate.
It was also reported earlier that City Transportation Systems, the company responsible for public transport development and LRT construction in Astana, widened its loss in the first half of the year to 24.8 billion tenge.