Transport, Karalpakstan

8/12/2019 Transport, Karalpakstan

1/26

arakalpakstan Transport Network

Karakalpakstan Transport Network

FormationPopulation

Geography

Natural Resources

Economy

Government

Health & Education

Transport

The Aral Sea

Home Page

New Book

Lectures & Articles

The Karakalpaks

Costume

Yurts

History

Karakalpakstan

Tour Guide

Glossary

External Links

About Us

Contents

Introduction

Road Network

River Crossings

Rail Network

Air Links

River Transport

Aral Sea Shipping

References

Introduction

Due to its isolated and landlocked geographical location, transport links are a vital component Karakalpakstan's economy. The populated regions located around the banks and irrigation netof the lower Amu Darya are surrounded on all sides by desert - the Ustyurt plateau in the westQzl Qum desert in the east, the Qara Qum desert to the south and the newly formed Aral Quleft behind by the retreating Aral Sea, in the north,

tp://www.karakalpak.com/stantransport.html (1 of 26)02/03/2014 19:35:38
http://www.karakalpak.com/stanform.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stanpop.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stangeography.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/naturalresources.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/defaultstan.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stangov.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/defaultstan.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stanaral.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/index.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/book.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/lectures.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/people.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/costume.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/yurts.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/history.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stan.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/tour.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/glossary.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/external.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/aboutus.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/aboutus.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/external.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/glossary.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/tour.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stan.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/history.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/yurts.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/costume.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/people.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/lectures.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/book.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/index.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stanaral.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/defaultstan.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stangov.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/defaultstan.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/naturalresources.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stangeography.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stanpop.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/stanform.html


2/26


Contact Us

The Karakalpak Autonomous Republic mostly consists of uninhabited wilderness.

Image courtesy of MODIS Rapid Response System at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre,

In the past the main route into the Khorezm oasis was from the south-east along the valley of tAmu Darya. One route followed the southern bank from Amul (modern Turkmenabat) while twother routes went via Bukhara, one passing straight through the Qzl Qum to Kath, the otherpassing closer to the Amu Darya via the Rabats of Tugan and Mash. However the region was linked by means of a multitude of other desert caravan routes, each supported by intermittent made wells and watering holes and throughout the past millennium by numerous caravanserawhere travellers could rest themselves and their animals overnight. One route from north-east and the southern Caspian followed the route of the Uzboy River to Gurganj (Kunya Urgench).Another crossed the Ustyurt from the Volga region of south-eastern Russia, while another ransouth from southern Siberia down the valley of the Turgay and the eastern edge of the Ustyurtfollowing the shoreline of the Aral Sea. In the east there were routes running through the Qzl

Qum, the main one following the channel of the Jan'a Darya (from Bartigkent on the other sidethe Syr Darya from modern Qizil Orda). This was linked to a route running along the southern of the Syr Darya from the former oasis of Otrar. From the south one route ran directly north froMerv up to the Amu Darya and then followed its left bank via Dargan, Sadvar, and Hazarasp toreach Gurganj, while another went directly north from Nishapur to Nisa and thence to Gurganj

Some of these ancient routes are still used today. For example the main rail and road link toRussia follows the old caravan route across the Ustyurt to Beyneu and Saratov, while the primland link from eastern Uzbekistan still follows one of the caravan routes from Bukhara and thevalley of the lower Amu Darya.

Most imports to and exports from Karakalpakstan are shipped by rail rather than road. Many o

Karakalpakstan's exports tend to be bulky items: marble, stone, building materials, soda ash, araw cotton. Most imports relate to industrial equipment and piping for the natural gas extractionindustry. Visitors are frequently surprised about the relatively small amount of road freight passbetween Karakalpakstan and the rest of Uzbekistan.

Road Network

For a small country Karakalpakstan has a well-developed road network, a legacy of former Sorule. No'kis is connected to the rest of Uzbekistan by the A380 trunk road, which passes from

Karshi to Bukhara and then crosses the Qzl Qum close to the natural gas fields at Gazli to rethe north bank of the Amu Darya at Lebap. It then follows the north bank of the Amu Darya rivecross the Karakalpakstan border just before Miskin, passing through To'rtku'l and Biruniy beforskirting the southern flanks of the Sultan Uvays Dag before reaching No'kis.

http://www.karakalpak.com/contactus.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/contactus.html


3/26


The relatively deserted main A380 highway from Bukhara to No'kis.

The A380 highway heading from No'kis to Bukhara from the air.

From No'kis the road crosses the Amu Darya and then heads northwest to Qon'rat. BeyondQon'rat the condition of the road deteriorates, firstly into a narrow metalled road as far as Jasand then into a gravel track to the border and western Kazakhstan. This route is used by a limnumber of cars, buses, and trucks travelling to Central Asia from Russia.



4/26


The A380 running from Miskin to No'kis via Biruniy in southern Karakalpakstan.

The A380 from Qon'rat to Bukhara is a wide two-lane highway with a relatively low traffic loadAverage usage in Karakalpakstan in 2007 was estimated to be less than 400 vehicles per day

In 1999 the Council of Ministers of Uzbekistan approved a project to establish a 2,000 km longnational highway crossing the entire country from Andijan to Tashkent, No'kis, and Qon'rat. Won upgrading the route commenced in 2002. Since then the route has been assessed to beinternationally strategically important long-term, potentially linking southern Russia and westerKazakhstan to Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan by way of the Uzbek-Afghan Bridge ofFriendship at Termez. Currently two sections are planned to be widened into a four lane highwa 40km stretch in the district of Qon'rat and a 91km stretch covering the district of Hazarasp inKhorezm viloyatiand the district of To'rtku'l in Karakalpakstan. The $75 milion project is beingfunded by the Asian Development Bank.

A second major highway runs north from No'kis to Xalqabad and Shmbay, where it divides, onbranch heading north to Qazaqdarya, another heading east to Taxta Ko'pir.



5/26


The road network connecting the main towns and villages of the northern delta.

Generally the road network covering the northern delta is in a good state of repair and is relativunderused. Roads tend to be generally wide and straight. The busiest time is during the cottonharvesting season.

A very quiet road in the Ellikqala district of southern Karakalpakstan.



6/26


A long and empty country road lined with ji denorth of Bozataw in 2004.

The empty road from Qon'rat to Moynaq in 2001.

No'kis is also connected to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, by a narrow desert road thapasses through the centre of the Qara Qum. The main road from Xojeli to Kunya Urgench crosthe international border but then narrows into a single lane metalled road, which passes througfeatureless desert until it reaches the outskirts of Ashgabat. There is only one main stopping pat the small settlemet of Darvaza, a former Soviet sulphur mine.

River Crossings



7/26


There are numerous road and rail crossings over the lower Amu Darya, several new ones havbeen constructed since the collapse of the USSR. The most important bridge in Karakalpakstaprovides a road link between the capital No'kis and neighbouring Xojeli. It was built between 1and 2001. More recently the "Amudarya" combined rail and road bridge was built in 2004 furthupstream from just south of To'rtku'l in Karakalpakstan to Hazarasp in the viloyatof Khorezm.

Crossing the new road bridge from No'kis to Xojeli.



8/26


The new Amudarya combined road and rail bridge close to To'rtku'l just after its opening

2004.

A third modern road and rail link crosses the top of the Tu'yemoyn hydroelectric dam, builtbetween 1981 and 1983 and linking No'kis to the neighbouring industrial and residential town oTaqatas.

Prior to the construction of these crossings, vehicles could only cross the Amu Darya by meanprimitive pontoon bridges composed of a string of connected barges held in place by cables ananchors. These had to be occasionally closed during the winter to allow the passage of ice dowthe Amu Darya. To make matters worse they were inaccessible to large vehicles when river lewere especially low. Today there are three such pontoon bridges serving Karakalpakstan:

the first just north of Ma'n'gt, linking Qpshaq to Bestam, about 300 metres wide, the second linking Jumurtaw to Qarataw (close to ancient Gyaur qala), about 360 metres

wide,

and the third linking Chalish in the Khorezm viloyatito Biruniy, about 600 metres wide.

The decrepit pontoon bridge linking left bank Qpshaq to right bank Bestam in 1999.



9/26


An Uzdaewoo Nexia crossing the pontoon bridge to Qpshaq in 2004.

The Jumurataw-Qarataw pontoon is only lightly used by local traffic, whereas the Qpshaq andBiruniy pontoons are always busy.

Cars leaving the Biruniy pontoon bridge on the Khorezm side in 2001.



10/26


An almost empty Biruniy pontoon bridge in 2005.

The latter two crossings are poorly maintained and welding teams work almost constantly repathe uneven surface of metal plates.

Welders working on the Qpshaq pontoon bridge in 2001.

Moving upstream beyond the borders of Karakalpakstan the next river crossing is located at thDrujba dam where a road runs north over the top of the dam, crossing the border in the procesfrom Gaz-Achak in Turkmenistan to Drujba in the Khorezm viloyatiof Uzbekistan. This is the laupstream crossing for 300km until the pontoon bridge in eastern Turkmenistan connectingTurkmenabat, formerly Chardjou, from Jeyhun and Farab. It sits alongside the 1.7km long ironrailway bridge built by the Russians in 1901 to replace the former wooden railway bridge built i1887. Also in Turkmenistan, a further 200km upstream, work continues on a new road bridgedesigned to replace the former pontoon bridge linking Atamurat (formerly Kerki) with Kerkichi.



11/26


project, which began in 2001/2, is financed by the Ukraine in return for Turkmen natural gas buhas been bogged down in political wrangling since 2004.

Rail Network

Karakalpakstan is served by an efficient railway system that links it domesticaly to Tashkent aninternationally to western and eastern Kazakhstan and Russia. No'kis railway station is modern

quiet, and clean and is linked to the nearby city centre by bus and taxi.

The modern railway station at No'kis.

During the Soviet era the railway line from Tashkent passed through Samarkand, which was lito Kagan (close to Bukhara) by two branches - one passing north via Navoi and the other soutQarshi. From Kagan the line ran south crossing the Amu Darya at Turkmenabat (Chardjou) anthen followed the left bank of the Amu Darya before reaching Urgench, Dashoguz, Xojeli, andQon'rat (Kungrad). It then continued north to cross the Kazakhstan border. No'kis and Shmbawere accessed by a spur from the main line at Taqtas.



12/26


The railway network at the time of Uzbek independance.

Image courtesy of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Transport Divisi

Following independence rail travel between Tashkent and Urgench and No'kis was hampered

immigration and customs disputes between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. To resolve the probthe Uzbek government decided to build a self-contained national rail network by constructing a500km long railway line across the Qzl Qum from Navoi to Zeravshan and Uchquduq and thesouth to Miskin and To'rtku'l, skirting the southern flank of the Sultan Uvays dag to reach No'kiThe line was partly built by the inmates of Uchquduq prison and was completed over a period three years. Following the construction of the new Amudarya rail and road brige a rail spur wasadded to link Miskin to the old railway line on the left bank at Hazarasp, providing access toUrgench and Shavat.



13/26


Schematic rail map of Karakalpakstan.

It takes 23 hours to travel from No'kis to Tashkent on the new line. This is slower than driving broad, although far less tiring and avoiding numerous road check-points.

The two main international train routes passing through Karakalpakstan are:

No'kis to Almaty, via Tashkent and

Saratov (on the Volga) to Tashkent, via Karakalpakstan.



14/26


The train from Tashkent to Saratov. Image courtesy of Helmut Uttenthaler.

There is also a Moscow service to Tajikistan which transits through Karakalpakstan but does nstop at any of the stations there.

The Almaty train terminates in No'kis after stopping at Miskin, To'rtku'l, and Kaibek. It takes 46hours to reach No'kis from Almaty.



15/26


Train schedule at No'kis Station (in Uzbek).

There is also a train service between Kazakhstan and Karakalpakstan, taking 12 hours to run fQon'rat to Beyneu and stopping at all the small stations along the way.

Air Links

Karakalpakstan is served by its own modern international airport located close to the centre ofNo'kis. Currently the only international flights to No'kis are from Moscow. Both Uzbekistan Airwand Gazpromavia operate weekly return flights from Moscow's Domodedovo and Vnukovo airprespectively. Click herefor details.

http://www.karakalpak.com/tourgetthere.html#dhttp://www.karakalpak.com/tourgetthere.html#d


16/26


No'kis International Airport.

Nearby Urgench International Airport also has a weekly flight to Moscow served by Sibir AirlineDashoguz airport in neighbouring Turkmenistan provides frequent connections to Ashgabat.

No'kis is connected to Tashkent by means of two domestic flights a day, seven days a week, oflying from Tashkent and back in the morning and another following the same route in the evenThere is also a weekly return flight from No'kis to Ferghana.

River Transport

In the past the Amu Darya provided a major transport route into and out of the region. Howevenavigation of the Amu Darya has always been a precarious venture requiring intimate knowledthe constantly shifting sandbanks and shallows.

In the 19th century passenger and cargo vessels sailed downstream from Chardjou (modernTurkmenabat) to Khanqa - which provided access to Khiva by canal - and on to Qpchaq, Xojeand Qon'rat. Boats returned under sail or were physically hauled back upstream by teams ofbarge haulers.

In 1899 Ole Olufsen sailed downstream from Chardjou in a wooden qayqwith a single squarecrewed by a dozen Turkmen, navigating between sandbanks and islands. He visited Khiva, NeUrgench, and Xojeli and returned via Hazarasp and Petro-Aleksandrovsk. Even at that time larRussian paddle steamers were working the river. Colonel Le Messurier observed in 1887 that fast and armed steamboats were nearing completion at Chardjou, along with two barges, havinbeen transported there in parts by rail. In 1933 the intrepid Swiss traveller Ella Maillart travelleddown the same stretch of river on a paddle steamer called the "Pelican", taking six days to reaTo'rtku'l. A high-speed "hydroglisseur" service was already doing the same journey in six hoursBales of Khorezmian cotton were being ferried upriver on square-sailed qayqs. A small boat ther further downstream where she took an arba(wooden cart) to New Urgench and Khiva. Bathe Amu Darya she caught the "Lastotchka" steamer to the port of "Kant Uzak" in the northerndelta, from where she planned to cross the Aral Sea to Aralsk before the service was suspend



17/26


late November. When she arrived at the large river port at Xojeli she discovered that the port othe Aral was already closed the last boat of the season, the "Commune", had sailed the daybefore.



18/26


Qayqson the Amu Darya, probably 1930s.

Images courtesy of the Regional Studies Museum, No'kis.

During the Soviet era long distance river travel became restricted by the construction of numer

permanent pontoon bridges and in the early 1980s by the construction of the Tu'yemoynhydroelectric dam. The majority of working boats on the river today are associated with themanagement and maintainance of the remaining pontoon bridges.



19/26


An assortment of working boats on the Amu Darya in Karakalpakstan.

Sadly navigation on the Amu Darya downstream from the Tu'yemoyn dam is almost impossib



20/26


today as a result of much lower river levels. The waters of the once mighty Amu Darya have besyphoned off to irrigate the cotton and rice fields of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, andKarakalpakstan.

Very low water levels in the Amu Darya to the south east of No'kis.

In recent years the stretch of the Amu Darya that separates Khorezm from southernKarakalpakstan has seen the emergence of a new commercial phenomenon - the introduction small pleasure boat service, offering local people the chance to dine "chaikana-style" while thecruise down the river.



21/26


Pleasure boats on the Amu Darya at Qpshaq.

The main centre for these cruises is just south of the pontoon bridge at Qpshaq.

Aral Sea Shipping

During the 18th and 19th centuries the Karakalpaks were able to navigate the east coast watethe Aral Sea. The Russian envoy Dmitry Gladyshev and his military surveyor Ivan Muravin visithe "lower" Karakalpaks near the mouth of the Syr Darya in 1740 and reported that they were ato sail from there to the mouth of the Amu Darya using six metre long wooden boats with a sinsmall sail.

However it was the Russians who launched the first large industrially manufactured ships ontoAral Sea. The initial fleet of the so-called Aral Flotilla consisted of two twin-masted schooners, warship "Nikolay" and the merchant ship "Mikhail", both constructed in Orenburg in 1847. The was designed for surveying and the second for establishing a fishery, but neither were capablesafely venturing far into the Aral Sea with its perilous shallows, and they became restricted tosurveying the island of Kozaral in the mouth of the Syr Darya estuary and the other islands dowthe eastern coast of the Aral Sea. Soon a somewhat larger schooner, the "Konstantin", was buOrenburg and was used by Lieutenant Aleksey Butakov to undertake the first complete surveythe Aral Sea in 1848 and 1849.

In 1850 the Russians ordered the construction of two new boats from a Swedish shipyard the"Perovsky", a forty horsepower paddle-wheel steamboat, and the "Obrutchef", a twelve horseppropeller-driven iron barque. The "Perovsky" was launched at Fort Raim on the Syr Darya in 1two years ahead of the "Obrutchef", and was armed with three nine-pound guns. However it prto be too large for navigating the more difficult parts of the Syr Darya and was continually runnaground. In a whole season it could only make three round trips between Fort Kazalinsk and FPerovsky. Both steam boats required huge quantities of saxaul to fire their boilers and on oneoccasion 180 tons of anthracite was especially transported overland from the River Don atenormous cost!

As the Russians increased their stranglehold on Central Asia the Aral Flotilla - headquartered



22/26


Kazalinsk - was expanded further. By the eve of the invasion of Khiva in 1873 the fleet consistthree side-wheel paddle steamers, the "Perovsky", "Samarkand", and "Tashkent", two stern-wsteamers, the "Aral" and the "Syr Darya", both armed with nine-pound guns, a steam launch, amany barges including three that were schooner-rigged. The two stern-wheelers were flat-bottomed and were constructed by the Hamilton Works in Liverpool in 1861. The individual pawere shipped to Orenburg, carried across the steppes by camel an incredible feat oftransportation and then finally assembled as boats at Kazalinsk. However they turned out to less satisfactory than the earlier steamboats, partly due to the poor quality of their finalconstruction. The later "Samarkand" was built in Belgium in 1866 and the more recent "Tashke

made in Russia in 1870.

After the Russian conquest in 1873 the Russian paddle steamer "Perovsky" could ferry passenfrom Kazalinsk to the Amu Darya across the Aral Sea, making it possible to reach Khiva fromOrenburg by carriage and boat without the perilous crossing of the Ustyurt. With the constructia new railway line from Orenburg to Aralsk in about 1900, and its extension to Tashkent in 190goods could now be transported by rail to Aralsk and then shipped across the Aral Sea toKhorezm. Unfortunately the service could not operate during the winter because the northern ASea became ice bound. Both Aralsk and Xojeli began to develop into shipbuilding centres toprovide vessels for this new Aral Sea route.

Qayqsat the port of Moynaq, probably photographed in the 1930s.

Image courtesy of the Savitsky Museum, No'kis.

The full commercial exploitation of the Aral Sea occurred during the Soviet era. Between 19331941 Moynaq developed into a major fishing centre supported by up to 113 fishing vessels wothe Aral Sea. Nearby U'shsay became the main commercial port for the transport of cargos to from the port of Aralsk in Kazakhstan.



23/26


Painting of the old cargo port at U'shsay by F. Madgazin.

Boats at the port of U'shsay at some time prior to 1967.

Image courtesy of the Regional Studies Museum, No'kis.

However the relentless development of the Uzbek cotton industry meant that less and less wawas draining into the Aral Sea. The development of the Qara Qum Canal in the 1950s was thestraw - from 1960 onwards the level of the Aral Sea began to fall. At first the decline was smalbecause of compensation from the draining of the lakes within the delta and releases from thesurrounding water table. Some of the first people to recognize the problem were the Aralfishermen, who noticed the level of the highest tide falling relentlessly from 1964 onwards. Soo



24/26


the port at Moynaq began to dry up and Toqmaq Ata Island gradually became connected to thmainland. At first the fishermen were forced to relocate their boats from the fishing port to the cport at U'shsay. But in time this also began to run dry and channels had to be cut to allow the bto reach the Sea. It was an impossible battle and eventually the ferry service was terminated athe bigger fishing boats were left stranded on the dried-up seabed. The rusting hulks that rematoday in the so-called "ships' graveyards" at Moynaq, U'shsay and Aralsk are only a fraction oforiginal fleet, many of which were subsequently dismantled for scrap.

Skeleton of a small boat at the Ship's Graveyard near Moynaq.

The "Karakalpakia" repainted for a movie by a visiting film crew.



25/26


Rusting hulk on the former bed of the Aral Sea.

By 1970 the shoreline had receded by about 10 km, leaving the community of Moynaq strandeand its former fishermen unemployed. The small town of U'shsay that was once home to onethousand fishing families had lost its livelihood and would gradually decay into the ghost town remains today.

The empty Aral Sea, devoid of a single ship.

Today the Aral Sea has almost gone - all that remains currently are a handful of large lakes.However the western basin is still a substantial size, measuring over 160km from north to sout



26/26


Yet without any port of access it remains eerily silent, devoid of a single floating vessel of any

The Aral Sea shipping route is no more. To travel from No'kis to Kazalinsk or Aralsk it is nownecessary to go by train or air via Tashkent and Almaty.

References

Anon., Soviet Topographical Military Map Series, Uzbekistan [in Russian], Scale 1;100,000,Roskartographia, Moscow, 1942, Revised in 1989.

Anon., Central Asia, Road Map, 1:1,750,000, Freytag and Berndt, Vienna, 1998.

Anon., Republic of Uzbekistan: CAREC Regional Road Project, Asian Development Bank, Ma2008.

Anon., Uzbekistan Today, Tashkent, 5 January 2007.

Buryakov, Y. F., Baipakov, K. M., Tashbaeva, Kh., and Yakubov, Y., The Cities and Routes of Great Silk Road, International Institute for Central Asian Studies, Sharq Publishers, Tashkent,

1999.

Maillart, E. K., Turkestan Solo, translated by John Rodker, G P Putnam's Sons, New York, 193

Nurmukhamedov, M. K., Muminov, I. M., and Dosumov, Y. M., History of the Karakalpak ASSRVolume 2, Fan Publishing, Tashkent, 1986.

Olufsen, O., The Emir of Bukhara and his Country, Elibron Classics, facsimile of 1911 edition,2002.

Visit our sister site www.qaraqalpaq.com, which uses the correct transliteration, Qaraqalpaq, r

than the Russian transliteration, Karakalpak.

Return to top of page

Home Page

This page was first published on 15 May 2009. It was last updated on 1 March 2012.

David and Sue Richardson 2005 - 2014. Unless stated otherwise, all of the material on this website is thcopyright of David and Sue Richardson.
http://www.qaraqalpaq.com/http://www.karakalpak.com/index.htmlhttp://www.karakalpak.com/index.htmlhttp://www.qaraqalpaq.com/

Date post:	03-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	jaym43
View:	215 times
Download:	0 times

Transport, Karalpakstan

Documents