The trains depart from Almaty at 22.30 on Mondays and Saturdays, arriving in Tashkent at 13.47 the following day with intermediate stops at Otar, Chu, Taraz, Shymkent and Saryagash. The return services leave Tashkent at 15.10 on Tuesdays and Sundays, arriving in Almaty at 08.51 on Wednesdays and Mondays. UTY officials present at the ceremony confirmed plans to increase the frequency of the service in the future.

Three classes of accommodation will be provided on the new service. Two-bed Grand Class sleeper cabins will include an en suite shower and toilet. Business sleeper cabins will accommodate two passengers and are equipped with a washbasin, while Tourist cabins will sleep up to four passengers in bunk beds.

The 200km/h 1520mm-gauge coaches are certified to Eurasion Customs Union technical standards and designed to operate in temperatures ranging from -50oC to +45oC. They have capacity for 400 passengers.

Before entering service on the Kazakh network last December, the coaches underwent load testing in Leipzig, fatigue testing in Madrid, and wind and climatic testing in Vienna. Dynamic testing at up to 200km/h was carried out in Kazakhstan.