Turksib

Major railway in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, which provides a direct link between Siberia and Central Asia. The line connects the Trans-Siberian Railway at Novosibirsk to the Moscow-Samarkand line at Arys, 70 km/44 mi west of Shymkent in Kazakhstan. The Turksib was begun in the Tsarist era (in 1913), but the main construction work was carried out as part of the first Soviet Five Year Plan, being completed in 1929.

From Novosibirsk, the Turksib runs southwest through Barnaul and crosses the border with Kazakhstan north of the city of Semipalatinsk. Other major settlements on its route are Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, and Zhambyl.