The vast territory of Kazakhstan spans across 2,700,000 km² (1,000,000 sq mi). The population density is low in Kazakhstan, and the centers of industry and agriculture are spread out and remote from world markets.

Railways provide 68% of all cargo and passenger traffic to over 57% of the country. There are 16,636 km (10,337 mi) in common carrier service, excluding industrial lines, of which 4,237 km (2,633 mi) was electrified as of 2021. All railway lines in Kazakhstan are built in 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) gauge.

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) is the national railway company. KTZ cooperates with French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom in developing Kazakhstan's railway infrastructure. Alstom has more than 600 staff and two joint ventures with KTZ and its subsidiary in Kazakhstan. In July 2017, Alstom opened its first locomotive repairing center in Kazakhstan. It is the only repairing center in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

As the Kazakhstani rail system was designed during the Soviet era, rail routes were designed ignoring inter-Soviet borders, based on the needs of Soviet planning. This has caused anomalies, such as the route from Oral to Aktobe passing briefly through Russian territory. It also means that routes might not suit modern-day Kazakhstani needs.^{[citation needed]}

Kazakhstan's developed railway system promotes international and regional trade connecting Asia and Europe. In 2019, the transit of goods through Kazakhstan increased 23% to 664,000 containers.

The strategy of transport development in Kazakhstan until 2015 was to build 1,600 km (990 mi) of new electrified and 2,700 km (1,700 mi) of existing railway stations.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, a standard gauge rail link from China to Europe was proposed.

In 2007, it was proposed to eliminate break of gauge at Druzhba-Alashankou by converting the Kazakhstan main line to European gauge.^{[citation needed]}