The Turkestan–Siberian Railway (commonly abbreviated as the Turk–Sib, Russian: Турксиб, Kazakh: Түрксіб) is a 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in) broad gauge railway that connects Central Asia with Siberia. It starts north of Tashkent in Uzbekistan at Arys, where it branches off from the Trans-Caspian Railway. It heads roughly northeast through Shymkent, Taraz, Bishkek (on a spur) to the former Kazakh capital of Almaty. There it turns northward to Semey before crossing the Russian border. It passes through Barnaul before ending at Novosibirsk, where it meets the West Siberian portion of the Trans-Siberian railway.