Scenic route
Issyk-Kul Summer Train
Bishkek → Balykchy · Kyrgyzstan
A summer-weekend crawl up the Boom Gorge to Issyk-Kul, the world’s second-largest alpine lake: panoramic cars bolted on for the mountain walls.
How this line was checked
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: 98% of this line lies within 250 m of real track (median 4 m); the longest stretch away from it is 3.5 km
Questions and answers
How long is the Issyk-Kul Summer Train?
The Issyk-Kul Summer Train runs 185 km from Bishkek to Balykchy.
How long does the Issyk-Kul Summer Train take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 4 h 05 min for the 185 km. That is an average of 45 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 60 km/h.
Who runs the Issyk-Kul Summer Train?
Kyrgyz Temir Zholu, with panoramic tourist cars.
How old is the Issyk-Kul Summer Train?
The line has been in service since 1948. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
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