Tashkent Train Station - a travel story

Tashkent station is an architectural experience itself: its enormous facades and arches are letting the summer sun rays illuminating the waiting area with a soft and calming light. The excitement of travellers is somehow yet contained by its solid structure. Sculptures of the Moon and the Sun are on either sides: a connection with the hidden meaning behind travelling, a new day will always come.

The white colour of the train is strikingly brilliant against the crystal-clear blue sky of Tashkent. The surface has a vintage patina, a remembrance of the countless journeys across the border. Travellers arrive early, far before departure, gathering slowly on the platform with extra-large suitcases, plastic bags overfilled with the traditional round bread - non - and sugary sweets. A tiny woman carries a gallon of water. Some smoke a last cigarette with their eyes on the railway disappearing into the city skyline. The coaches are set to host their one-night guests, while people frantically find their own bed or seat. They start to unpack, taking out a book, other they set the small table with games and play cards. A lady is getting her Chai straight out in a ceramic cup she brought from home, which transforms the 2-bed sleepover into a tiny house, cosy and familiar. Later in the evening, the landscapes slide past the windows, stop being scenery and become sleep.

It is almost a dance between leaving and staying, while the platform transforms itself into a gateway.

It will take around 20 more hours before it reaches another stable ground; then, it leaves. Its slow rhythm is hypnotising. The sound of the iron wheel has something soothing and steady, a roar that calms all senses.

The view endless.

View from the train window. Kazakhstan 2026. esther nour ©