Founded by the government in 2002 as a
joint stock company, KTZ’s task is to develop, operate, and maintain railway transportation in Kazakhstan. It is headquartered in
Astana. Related stock companies own the
rolling stock, the hauling equipment, and the passenger transport division. Repair facilities have been privatized. Private companies may own or rent rolling stock that can use the rail system. KTZ is the largest employer in Kazakhstan with 119,071 employees (2020). Approximately 1% of the Kazakh population are employed by the railroads and affiliated companies. It manages 46,800 freight wagons, 1,700 locomotives and 2,300 passenger cars. The company is profitable and its 2020 revenue was 1,173.3 billion
Kazakhstani tenge. In 2020, the freight industry saw increases in overall tonnage of 3.5% versus the previous year, while passenger volume decreased by 54.5%. 100% of KTZ's shares are owned by the state through the
Samruk-Kazyna fund. Aidar Ryskulov is the chairman of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. Nurlan Sauranbayev is the chairman of the management board of the company.
The TransKazakhstanTrunk Railways project The potential of Kazakhstan to act as a transit in the trade between China, Europe, and even the eastern coast of America, as envisioned in the
Trans-Asian Railway proposal, has not yet been fulfilled. Current rail transport between China and Europe as part of the
Eurasian Land Bridge goes over the
Trans-Siberian Railway, is lengthy, and requires
bogie exchanges. KTZ is engaging on a major railroad project to link China and
Southeast Asia to Europe for a length of . Currently the plan is to run the railway through
Turkmenistan to
Iran; Iran is linked to Turkey and Europe's standard gauge system In May 2013, a new rail link opened between
Uzen (Kazakhstan) and
Serhetyaka (Turkmenistan), crossing the border at
Bolashak. The railway is 146 km long and cost 65bn tenge. The railway is Russian gauge; there would be a break of gauge when the railway reaches the Iranian border. Construction for the new line will start at the eastern border town of
Druzhba to go to
Aktau on the Caspian Sea. Construction is expected to start in 2006 and take four years. The total cost of the project is $5–7 billion. A link from Aktau to Iran is also required. The transport corridor through Kazakhstan has the potential to provide a railway-ship link between China and the east coast of North America through the Northern East West corridor. == Infrastructure ==