30 October 2024 | 14:15

Best tips for buying train tickets before New Year

KTZ

Tengrinews.kz - 2025 is just over two months away. Many Kazakhstani citizens are already thinking about purchasing tickets for the holiday break. Here are some tips from the Ministry of Transport on securing tickets.

Tengrinews.kz - 2025 is just over two months away. Many Kazakhstani citizens are already thinking about purchasing tickets for the holiday break. Here are some tips from the Ministry of Transport on securing tickets.

Advance ticket purchase

The simplest and most important piece of advice would probably be to take care of purchasing tickets for the New Year in advance. As you know, ticket sales begin 45 days before the train's departure. For example, tickets for December 10-11 are already available.

"Passengers are advised to purchase tickets in advance without commissions through the website bilet.railways.kz and the railway ticket offices of 'Passenger Transportation', which are located at railway stations. Tickets can also be bought with a commission on third-party official websites and private agent ticket offices," the Ministry of Transport noted.

Don't buy tickets from resellers

The department recommends not to buy tickets from unknown persons. Trust only verified sites or buy tickets at official ticket offices.

"We recommend that passengers do not contact strangers who are not directly involved in the sale of travel documents and who offer illegal ticket resale services," the Ministry of Transport said.

Buying train tickets from resellers comes with several risks.

Inflated price: Resellers often sell tickets at prices significantly higher than their face value, leading to extra costs for passengers.
Risk of counterfeits: Resellers may have fake or invalid tickets, especially when purchased online or in person from individuals. If you present such tickets at counters or boarding, you may be denied boarding.
No refund guarantee: When buying tickets on official websites or at ticket counters, passengers can request a refund or exchange if plans change. Resellers typically do not offer this service, making it unlikely to recover the money spent on the ticket.

Use the "Waiting list" service

If you didn't manage to buy tickets in advance for New Year's but still plan to travel during the holiday season, you can join the electronic "Waiting list" queue.

This service allows a passenger, if there is no ticket available for sale, to stand in line to buy it in case someone returns a ticket and a seat becomes available, or if new carriages are added to the train. The passenger will receive a notification about the availability of a free seat in their personal account, as well as via SMS notification. This can be done no earlier than 7 days and no later than 2 hours before departure.

You can join the "Waiting list" in your personal account on the website bilet.railways.kz. You can also use this service for free at the ticket office.

"Passengers can use the electronic queue service, without commissions through the website and railway ticket offices of JSC "Passenger Transportation", which are located at railway stations, as well as with a commission at private agent ticket offices for the sale of railway tickets," the Ministry of Transport noted.

"Transfer" service

Another piece of advice from the Ministry of Transport: if necessary, use the "Transfer" service.

"If there are no seats in the forward direction, passengers may be offered to use this service without commissions through the website or ticket offices of JSC 'Passenger Transportation,'" the department reminded.

As previously noted by the press service of "Passenger Transportation", there is a "train-train" service available as an online "Transfer" service on the website. This service is offered on both domestic and international trains.

"This service is especially relevant during periods of increased demand. The system will select possible travel options for the passenger to the destination with a transfer from train to train," previously mentioned in "Passenger Transportation".

Kazakhstanis with a five-day workweek will have 10 days off in the last month of 2024 and another 11 days off in the first month of the new 2025.

train railway transport service

Вопрос от редакции

Что вы об этом думаете?