UZBEKISTAN: Italian luxury hospitality company Arsenale has announced plans to launch a luxury cruise train to take tourists between Toshkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva from late 2026.
A memorandum of understanding for the project was signed with national railway UTY and the government’s Tourism Committee in Samarkand on October 17.
The train would comprise 13 Italian coaches which are to be refurbished in Italy and converted to 1 520 mm gauge through a partnership with Italian national railway FS Group and its Treni Turistici Italiani luxury and tourist service division.
The train would have 38 cabins for 66 guests, offering a rail cruises on a route with ‘a captivating architectural and artistic heritage’ at the heart of the Silk Road.
‘The concept of launching railway cruises as the future of tourism is perfectly aligned with our aspiration for innovation and sustainable development’, said UTY Acting First Deputy Chairman Khikmatulla Rakhmetov, ‘Signing this memorandum is the first step in the long and exciting journey ahead of us.’
Arsenale is to launch La Dolce Vita luxury ‘slow travel’ train services in Italy next year, and is developing a Dream of the Desert train in Saudi Arabia and similar service in the UAE.
‘Railway cruises are the future of tourism, a new and sustainable way of travelling’, said CEO Paolo Barletta. ’Arsenale’s mission is to make this experience possible in the most captivating places in the world.’
Commenting on the project, Sophie Ibbotson, Uzbekistan’s Tourism Ambassador and author of the Bradt travel guide to the country, told Railway Gazette International ‘rail travel is so critical for sustainable tourism development in Uzbekistan. This is a country the size of Spain. Uzbekistan expects to soon receive more than 10 million international tourists a year, plus twice that number of local tourists. The domestic flight network can’t meet that demand, and from an environmental perspective, it shouldn’t.’
’At the World Tourism Organization General Assembly, President Mirziyoyev confirmed that the extension of Uzbekistan’s high speed train network is on track to reach Khiva in 2025 and Nukus in 2026. This means that all of the country’s major tourist centres will be accessible by rail, using modern electric trains.
‘There is great potential for luxury train travel in Uzbekistan. Golden Eagle Luxury Trains entered the market several years ago and there’s high demand for their tours, but there’s space in the market for several companies with different itineraries and price points.’
