Abstract:
The railway sector is the largest branch of the economy in Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, environmental safety issues and the reduction and prevention of harmful impacts are not given sufficient
attention. There is very little research on the impact of the railway sector of Kazakhstan on the natural
environment, which hinders the further development of the railway sector and thus necessitates the
addressal of environment issues. This study aimed to show possible environmentally hazardous
sections of the country’s railway infrastructure. The criteria chosen for the analysis were soil cover,
water resources, rainfall, protected natural areas, and population. A map of environmentally sensitive
areas was created to determine which areas require priority protection from the environmental
hazards posed by the country’s railway infrastructure. The map was developed in a GIS environment
using the weighted overlay, expert assessment, and snowball methods. Additionally, a model for
the Kazakhstan segment of the International Northern Railway Corridor was constructed in this
article to identify integral indices that assess the susceptibility of the territory to environmental
hazards. The data and results presented in the article can be used to solve current and future environmental issues concerning the country’s railway communications and can be implemented in many
practical applications.
