Children's railway in Almaty, Children's railway in Almaty, Kazakhstan

The Children's Railway in Almaty is a 750 mm narrow-gauge loop of 1.24 km in Gorky Central Park. It has two stations, Dostyk and Zhastar, and since 1999 has been run as a ride with an Italian Atlantic Pacific Train diesel locomotive and covered wagons. A fake tunnel stands over the track at Zhastar.

Built by the Pioneers and Komsomol, the 1.24 km loop opened on 13 September 1952 as the Little Turkestan-Siberian Railway, with a station named after Pavlik Morozov. A second station, Komsomolskaya, followed in 1958. Renamed Dostyk and Zhastar in 1993, the line closed on 20 July 1997; after privatization in 1999 the track and one station were restored, and the Dostyk wooden station burned in August 2001.

The line's name changed with the country: Pavlik Morozov station became Dostyk ("friendship") and Komsomolskaya became Zhastar ("youth") in 1993. Russian railway enthusiasts note that children no longer run the railway, as they did in the Soviet years, but are now only passengers. It remains Kazakhstan's only children's railway, with stable ridership since privatization.

The line runs through the Central Park (Gorky Park) in Almaty, on a 1.24 km loop with a 750 mm gauge. The ride uses an Italian diesel locomotive styled as a steam engine and three open carriages. A fake tunnel over the track is too small for the original locomotives and carriages.

A fake tunnel built over the track hosts occasional puppet shows and theatrical performances by actors dressed as characters, adding an unexpected storytelling element to the short ride. This playful feature transforms what might seem like a simple train into a brief adventure story for children.