Uzbekistan Temir Yollari operates all passenger rail services in Uzbekistan through a network spanning approximately 4,700 kilometers of track. The high-speed Afrosiyob train connects Tashkent to Samarkand in two hours and five minutes covering 344 kilometers, with continuing service to Bukhara adding another two hours and forty minutes for the 268-kilometer segment. This Spanish-built Talgo 250 trainset entered service in 2011 and reaches maximum operational speeds of 250 kilometers per hour on upgraded sections between Tashkent and Samarkand, though average journey speeds remain lower due to track conditions and station stops. The same route on conventional trains requires approximately five hours to Samarkand. Afrosiyob tickets cost approximately 120,000 to 150,000 som for economy class Tashkent to Samarkand as of 2024, with business class adding roughly 50 percent to that fare. Reservations open thirty days before departure through the official Uzbekistan Railways website or mobile application, with tickets frequently selling out on Friday through Sunday services during peak travel months of April through June and September through October.
The overnight train from Tashkent to Khiva via Urgench departs at 17:05 and arrives at 07:20, covering approximately 1,050 kilometers in fourteen hours and fifteen minutes. Passengers disembark at Urgench station and complete the final thirty kilometers to Khiva by taxi or marshrutka. This route operates daily using Soviet-era sleeping cars with four-berth compartments called kupe and two-berth compartments called spalny vagon or luxe. A kupe berth costs approximately 180,000 som while spalny vagon compartments run 450,000 to 500,000 som per person. Bedding is provided but many travelers bring supplementary blankets during winter months when carriage heating proves inconsistent. The dining car serves hot meals until approximately 22:00, though experienced travelers typically bring their own food and tea purchased from platform vendors during the five to ten minute station stops at Navoi, Bukhara, and intermediate points.
Sharbat trains provide a separate overnight service from Tashkent to Bukhara departing at 22:40 and arriving at 06:40, an eight-hour journey covering the 600 kilometers at an average speed of 75 kilometers per hour. This train uses slightly newer rolling stock than the Urgench service but follows the same four-berth and two-berth configuration. The route parallels the M39 highway through the Kyzylkum Desert with extended stretches where no settlements or artificial lighting exist outside the train windows. During summer months carriage temperatures can exceed 30 degrees Celsius before departure even with air conditioning running, as carriages sit in Tashkent's marshaling yards through afternoon heat. A second Bukhara service departs Tashkent at 08:30 as a day train, requiring approximately seven hours and twenty minutes.
Domestic flights connect Tashkent to Urgench, Bukhara, Samarkand, Fergana, Andijan, Namangan, Termez, and Nukus through Uzbekistan Airways and private carrier Qanot Sharq. The Tashkent to Urgench flight takes one hour and thirty-five minutes compared to fourteen hours by train, with fares ranging from 450,000 to 850,000 som depending on booking timing and season. Uzbekistan Airways operates Airbus A320neo aircraft on trunk routes and older Boeing 767s on some services, while Qanot Sharq flies Airbus A320 family aircraft. Tashkent International Airport processed approximately 8 million passengers in 2023 following terminal expansions completed in 2021. Domestic check-in closes forty-five minutes before departure, and boarding gates are typically announced twenty to thirty minutes before scheduled departure. Samarkand Airport lies fourteen kilometers from the Historic Centre of Samarkand requiring taxi transfer, while Urgench Airport sits five kilometers from Urgench city center and thirty-five kilometers from Khiva.
Shared taxis called marshrut or marshrutka in Russian operate on fixed routes between all major cities, departing when the vehicle fills to capacity. A typical marshrutka uses a fifteen-passenger Mercedes-Benz Sprinter or similar van, with the front passenger seat commanding a double fare. Tashkent to Samarkand marshrutka takes approximately four and a half to five hours covering 275 kilometers via the M39 highway at a cost of 60,000 to 80,000 som per seat as of 2024. These vehicles depart from designated stations called avtovokzal in each city, with Tashkent's international bus station Tashkent Yuzhniy near Beruniy metro station handling most long-distance routes. Drivers typically stop once for fuel and toilet facilities at a roadside choyhona approximately halfway through longer journeys. Marshrutka between Bukhara and Khiva requires six to seven hours covering approximately 450 kilometers through desert sections where the road runs straight for twenty to thirty kilometer stretches with minimal elevation change.
Private taxis negotiate fares individually without standardized metering in most Uzbek cities. A taxi from Tashkent International Airport to the city center fifteen kilometers away costs approximately 40,000 to 60,000 som depending on negotiation, time of day, and specific destination within the city. Yandex Taxi operates in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Fergana with app-based pricing that typically undercuts negotiated street taxis by twenty to thirty percent. MyTaxi Uzbekistan provides similar services in Tashkent. These applications display fares before booking and accept card payment, eliminating currency and communication issues. A typical Yandex ride across central Tashkent averages 15,000 to 25,000 som for distances of five to eight kilometers. Traditional yellow taxis with roof lights and meters exist but many drivers prefer negotiated fares over meter usage, claiming meters are broken or not calibrated.
Tashkent Metro opened in 1977 as the seventh metro system in the Soviet Union and the first in Central Asia, currently operating three lines totaling approximately fifty-four kilometers with thirty stations. The Chilonzor Line runs from Chilonzor through the city center to Buyuk Ipak Yoli, the Uzbekistan Line connects Tashkent Railway Station through central districts to Yunusobod, and the Yunusobod Line links northern suburbs to the center. Single journey tokens cost 1,700 som as of 2024 purchased from ticket windows at each station. Trains run from approximately 05:00 to midnight with headways of three to five minutes during peak hours and seven to ten minutes off-peak. Photography inside metro stations was prohibited from the system's opening until 2018 due to Soviet-era security concerns, though this ban is no longer enforced and visitors now regularly photograph the ornate Soviet-modernist station decorations at stations like Kosmonavtlar, Alisher Navoi, and Mustaqillik Maydoni.
City buses in Tashkent charge 1,400 som for a single journey paid to a conductor who circulates through the vehicle issuing paper tickets. These predominantly use locally-assembled Isuzu buses though older Mercedes-Benz and MAZ vehicles remain in service. Route numbers are displayed in Uzbek Latin script on destination boards that often include the major streets and destinations served. Bus route information exists primarily in Uzbek with limited English resources, making navigation challenging for non-Uzbek speakers who cannot recognize destination names in Latin script. The bus network complements metro coverage in residential areas lacking metro stations, particularly in the Sergeli, Yashnobod, and Mirzo Ulugbek districts.