At a press conference following the Government session, media representatives were told about measures to fulfill the instructions of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the further construction of the LRT project.

Akim of Nur-Sultan Altai Kulginov informed about the work on project optimization. Project costs of $350 million have been reduced.

Taking into account international experience, it is proposed to provide for passenger check-in for flights and further travel to the airport terminal on the principle of air railway. It will be possible not to go to the airport, but to register automatically in these points.

The General Manager of “Directorate for LRT Construction” LLP Adelsha Yermukhanov said that the LRT project is a land-based metro where trains will take the overpass. It will be an off-street transport that will solve all the problems in the city related to traffic, speed, environment and passenger safety.

“The train control system will be fully automated. That is, the trains will be managed from a special Control Center, there will be no machinists. This is a completely different level of automation, a completely different level of technical equipment for both stations and trains. This is a new level of security,” said Yermukhanov and noted that the optimized project is in no way inferior to the previous one.

The Chairman of Astana LRT Bekmyrza Igenberdinov informed that taking into account the growth of the population of the capital, construction of new transport linear systems is required. He stressed that the construction of the LRT is one of the necessary solutions for the further development of the city.

“In the future, as part of the route network development, the LRT system will resolve many issues. It is expected that about 500 thousand people will live in this area (along the LRT route) by 2030. Our task is to create the most convenient route network,” said Igenberdinov.

At the end of the press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Zhenis Kassymbek commented on the issue of refusing the loan from the China Development Bank.

“China Development Bank does not refuse this project. The decision was made recently by the Government of Kazakhstan and the Akimat of Nur-Sultan. We will look for funds within the market. In general, the China Development Bank was not against further cooperation, but the loan period is reduced from 20 to 5 years. Therefore, interest rate was reduced. For the Government of Kazakhstan and the city akimat it is very beneficial. Therefore, we ourselves refuse a loan from a Chinese bank. This is our decision,” said Kassymbek.