The Frunze - Kant - Tokmak - Rybachye railway line, passing through the territory of Kyrgyzstan, became a continuation of the existing Lugovaya - Frunze line. The road was built in order to provide transport links (in conjunction with water transport on Lake Issyk-Kul) to the north-eastern part of the republic. The construction of the road was supposed to stimulate the widespread industrial development of deposits of coal, zinc ores and other minerals.
The project of the Frunze - Kant – Rybachye line was developed by Lentransproekt (since 1951 - Lengiprotrans) in 1937-1941. In 1938, design and survey work was carried out simultaneously with construction on the Kant - Rybachye section. By the beginning of 1941, the Kant - Bystrovka section was built.
In 1941-1945, by order of the Government, Lentransproekt conducted the Tokmak expedition for additional surveys, during which the route was significantly improved. Design materials for construction were issued.
A significant part of the line was an extremely complex construction complex. The route was laid along the Chuy valley and along the Boom gorge of the Chu river on the western shore of the high-mountainous Issyk-Kul lake. When tracing the line along the slopes of the Boom Gorge, it was necessary to cross a number of deep ravines and rivers, along which mudflows descend. The whole area is seismic, tremors reach 9 points.
The height of embankments and viaducts, according to the initial project, reached 40 m, the depth of excavations - 25–30 m. Retaining and retaining walls were provided for almost the entire length of the line. The minimum radius of the curves was 250 m.
The throughput of the constructed line was designed for 4 pairs of freight trains with the Em steam locomotive and 2 pairs of passenger trains with the Su steam locomotive. The movement is provided by the rod system. At first, the road was operated only in the daytime, as it often had talus and avalanches that obstructed traffic. It took time for the road to return to normal operational condition.
