New tariffs for mainline railway network services provided by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) will take effect in Kazakhstan on September 21, 2026. The Association of Kazakhstani Freight Railway Carriers announced the upcoming increase, according to infohub.kz.
The legal basis for the tariff revision is an order from the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies dated September 2, 2026. The document amends previously approved KTZ tariffs for mainline railway network services.
Under the approved parameters, the increase in 2026–2027 will be 23–24%. Thereafter, the rate of growth is to gradually slow: an increase of 22% is envisaged for 2028, 20% for 2029, and 18% by 2030.
However, the changes will not affect all categories of transportation. For socially significant food products, tariffs will remain at the previously approved level.
The new cost of mainline railway network services will apply from September 21.
It is noted that for KTZ, rail passenger transportation is traditionally unprofitable. For this reason, the company resorts to cross-subsidizing passenger services from freight revenues. Moreover, within freight transportation itself, only certain cargoes are profitable — those in export and transit.