More than 300 billion tenge may have been spent on the construction of the LRT in Astana since the start of the year, infohub.kz reports.
Analysts estimate that more than 300 billion tenge could have gone into building the capital's LRT over the first eight months of this year, NUR.KZ reports, citing the First Credit Bureau.
Citing data from the Bureau of National Statistics, analysts said the volume of work completed on railway and subway construction in Astana since the start of the year totaled 306.5 billion tenge. That figure is 2.2 times higher than in the same period of 2025 (adjusted for inflation). Such a high January-August level has not been recorded in the past 10 years, according to the report.
"Most likely, this statistical indicator mainly reflects the actual costs of building the LRT — the largest project in the development of Astana's transport infrastructure, which has been actively under way in recent times," the bureau said.
The first phase of the LRT was launched on May 16, with the section from the airport to the new railway station entering service. A few days earlier, on May 3, it was announced that construction of the second phase had begun — the first concrete support was poured on the section toward Kosshy.
"Open data do not make it possible to determine how much the construction of the second phase of the LRT costs. Monthly breakdowns of completed work do not give a clear picture, since the start of the second phase coincides in time with the completion of the first — both events occurred in May. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that the cost of building the second phase to date accounts for at least nearly half of the January-August volumes. The reason is that 47% of the total for the period, 146.1 billion tenge, falls in July and August, while the figure for June is close to zero," the analysts added.
According to the First Credit Bureau, overall, since 2017, when construction of the LRT began, the volume of work completed on railway and subway construction in Astana has totaled 756 billion tenge in current prices. It notes that, in addition to the LRT, the sum may also reflect spending on other projects related to expanding the capital's rail network.
Recall that Astana will get three more new Tarlan Astana (LRT) lines. Construction of one of them has already begun in the direction of the city of Kosshy.