BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 7. A feasibility
study is being developed in Kyrgyzstan for the construction of a
circular railway around Issyk-Kul Lake, said Dastan Usubakunov,
Deputy Director of the state-owned company “Kyrgyzstan Railways,”
in an interview with a local media outlet, Trend reports.
“The railway will be built in a circular route, like a ring
road. Currently, we are working on this project. The feasibility
study is underway. We aim to implement the project within five to
six years,” Usubakunov stated.
The planned route will follow this path: on the northern shore,
the railway will run from Balykchy through Tamchy to Cholpon-Ata,
and on the southern shore, from Balykchy through Bokonbaev to
Karakol.
Issyk-Kul represents a unique hydrological phenomenon as an
endorheic saline lake situated within the western Tianshan Mountain
range, located in the eastern sector of Kyrgyzstan, immediately
south of the geomorphological boundary delineating Kyrgyzstan from
Kazakhstan. This body of water ranks as the eighth-deepest lake
globally, while also being the eleventh-largest by volumetric
capacity, albeit not in terms of surface area. It holds the
distinction of being the deepest lake, with its nadir positioned
above sea level at an impressive 939 meters (3,080 feet), and is
classified as the third-largest saline lake in existence.