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Transport in Pakistan

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Pakistan transport network

Transportation in Pakistan is extensive and varied but still in its developing stages and serving a population of over 170 million people. Construction of new airports, roads, and railway are providing an employment boost in Pakistan

History

Much of Pakistan's road network (National Highways) and railway network were built before 1947, during the British Raj. In recent years, new national highways have been built, with the addition of motorways. Airports and seaports have been built recently within the last 30 years.

Rail

Main article: Pakistan Railways
File:Lahore railway station.jpg
Lahore Railway Station
File:Two trains from above.jpg
Outer Platform, Lahore Railway Station

Domestic

Rail services in Pakistan are provided by the state-run Pakistan Railways, under the supervision of the Ministry of Railways. Pakistan Railways provides an important mode of transportation in Pakistan, catering to the large-scale movement of people and freight. The railway network comprises 8,163 km[1] of which broad gauge (1.676-m) forms 7,718 km including 293 km of electrified track. Narrow gauge (1-metre) tracks form the remaining 445 km. Passenger earnings comprise of 50% of the total revenue. During 1999-2000 this amounted to Rs. 4.8 billion.[citation needed] Pakistan Railways carry 65 million passengers annually and daily operates 228 mail, express and passenger trains.[citation needed] Pakistan Railways also operate special trains for various occasions. The Freight Business Unit with 12000 personnel operates over 200 freight stations on the railway network. The FBU serves the Port of Karachi and Port Qasim as well as in various other stations along the network and generates revenue from the movement of agricultural, industrial and imported products such as wheat, coal, fertilizer, cement, and sugar. About 39% of the revenue is generated from the transportation of petroleum, 19% from imported wheat, fertilizer and rock phosphate. The remaining 42% is earned from domestic traffic.[citation needed] The freight rates structure is based on market trends in road transport which is the main competitor to rail transport.

Metros

The Karachi Circular Railway, which opened in the early 1940s, is the only functioning metro in Pakistan as of date. In 1976, Karachi was slated to begin work on an underground metro system, but plans have been put on hold since. The Lahore Metro is another proposal still in planning and is scheduled to be completed by 2020.

International

Iran Iran - A broad gauge railway line runs from Zahedan to Quetta, and a standard gauge line is being built from Zahedan to Kerman in central Iran, linking with the rest of the Iranian rail network. On May 18, 2007, a MOU for rail cooperation was signed by Pakistan and Iran under which the line will be completed by December 2008. When the rail systems link up at Zahedan, there will be a break of gauge between the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways standard gauge tracks and Pakistan Railways broad gauge.[2]

Afghanistan Afghanistan - Currently there is no rail link to Afghanistan since no railway network is present in that country, however Pakistan Rail has proposed to help build a Afghani Rail Network in three phases. The first phase will stretch from the Chaman to Spin Boldak in Afghanistan. The second phase will extend line to Kandahar and the third phase will eventually connect to Herat. From there, the line will be extended to Khushka, Turkmenistan. The final phase would link 1676mm gauge with Central Asian 1524mm gauge. It is not clear where the break of gauge station will be.[3] The proposed line will also be connected the port town of Gwadar via Dalbadin and Taftan, thus connecting the port town to Central Asia.

China China - There is no link with China however, on February 28, 2007 contracts were awarded for feasibility studies on a proposed line from Havelian via the Khunjerab pass at 4730m above sea level, to the Chinese railhead at Kashgar, a distance of about 750 km.[4]

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan - via Afghanistan

Road

File:Makran4.jpg
Makran Coastal Highway, Gwadar
File:M2 lilla.JPG
M2 to Islamabad

National Highways

Main article: National Highways of Pakistan

During the 1990s, Pakistan began an ongoing project to rebuild all national highways throughout the country specifically to important financial, cargo and textile centers. The National Highway Authority or NHA is responsible for the maintenance of all national highways in Pakistan.

Motorways

Main article: Motorways of Pakistan

The construction of motorways began in the early 1990s with the idea building a world class road network and to reduce the load off the heavily used national highways throughout the country. The M2 was the first motorway completed in 1998, linking the cities of Islamabad and Lahore. In the past 5 years, many new motorways have opened up including the M1, M3.

Waterways

The waterway network in Pakistan is in its infancy with Karachi being the only major city situated next to the Arabian Sea. Still plans are being proposed for the development of the waterways in the country along the Indus River and through the Punjab as it would boost employment opportunities and the economic and social development of Pakistan.

Air

Main article: Airlines of Pakistan
Main article: List of airports in Pakistan
Jinnah International Airport, Karachi
Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore

Pakistan has 139 airports[1]. The main airport include:

There are also several smaller airports which have flights to and from the Gulf because of the large Pakistani diaspora working in the region. There are 91 airports with paved runways of which 14 have runways longer than 3,047 meters. The remaining 48 airports have unpaved runways including one airport with a runway longer than 3,047 meters. Pakistan also has eighteen heliports.[1]

Local Transport

File:Motor cycles & scooters.jpg
Motorbikes and scooters: cheap and simple transport
A Pakistani rickshaw

In urban areas there are several means of transport available, catering to a wide range of budgets.

Buses

Main article: Daewoo Express
See also: Customised buses and trucks in Pakistan
File:Daewoo City Bus.jpg
Daewoo City Bus
  • Inter City

Bus service in urban areas and between cities is well established with services run by both public and private sectors. Bus services like Daewoo Express, Skyway and Niazi Bus have set up modern intercity service in Pakistan which connects to most cities in Pakistan and runs 24 hours a day. Intercity buses tend to be more modern and well kept as compared to urban transport within cities which are also well established, however the fleet of buses used tend to be in horrible shape and are not air-conditioned.

  • International

International bus services are also well established in Pakistan and connect to various countries:

- Quetta - Zahidan, Iran - Quetta - Mashad, Iran - Gwadar - Zahidan, Iran (2010) - Karachi - Quetta - Zahidan - Tehran, Iran (proposed) - Peshawar - Jalalabad, Afghanistan - Peshawar - Kabul, Afghanistan - Islamabad - Dushanbe, Uzbekistan - Islamabad - Kashghar, China - Lahore - Delhi, India

Auto Rickshaws

Auto rickshaws are a popular method of traveling in cities and are found in almost every city and town in Pakistan. The fare is usually negotiable before commencing a journey, however due to the level of pollution contributed by the auto-rickshaws, the government has recently begun banning older auto richshaws and replacing them with CNG auto rickshaws, which tend to be less noisy, forms less pollutants and are much bigger and more comfortable than the older sets of richshaws. The Punjab Government decided in 2005 to replace two-stroke three-wheelers with CNG-fitted four-stroke rickshaws in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala. Three manufacturers were ordered to produce 60,000 four-stroke vehicles, but they reportedly supplied 2,000 to the government which were now plying on city roads. Similar ordinances are now being considered in other provinces of Pakistan. A new form of transport in Pakistan is the Qing-Qi (pronounced "ching-chee"), which is a cross between a motorcycle and auto-rickshaw. It runs just like a motorcycle but comes with three wheels instead of two and carries a much heavier load on its back. It is an urban transport vehicle and is used mostly for short distances.

Taxis

Another very common sight seen mainly at hotels and airports yellow taxis. The drivers charge according to a meter located on the dashboard of the car, but fares can be negotiated if there is no meter. The cab drivers are reliable and will take passengers to any destination required. There are also numerous privately run services that use cars and minibuses of various types throughout Pakistan, providing a reliable and quick means of transport. Recently, the Radio Cab was introduced in Pakistan, which offers riders to call a toll free number to get in touch with the closes taxi stand. This service is currently offered in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore. Services for Hyderabad and Sialkot are now being made.

Cars

Over the years, the number of cars on Pakistani roads has tripled. Traffic jams are a common scene in major cities across Pakistan. The most popular cars on Pakistani roads are, Suzuki Mehran, Daihatsu Coure, Suzuki Alto, Honda Civic and Toyota Vitz. In late 2005, Suzuki introduced the APV (All-Purpose Vehicle) the first luxury family van in Pakistan. Utility vehicles (SUVs or 4x4s) are also a familiar sight in Pakistan. This type of car is very multi functional as it allows long distance and off road travel, within cities as well as city to city travel. The most popular models are the Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prado, Mitsubishi Pajero, Kia Sportage can also be sighted.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Transport in Pakistan.

References

  1. ^ a b c The Central Intelligence Agency. "World Factbook - Pakistan". Retrieved 2007-06-28.
  2. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_Gazette_International
  3. ^ "Govt considers railway links with central Asia".
  4. ^ Associated Press of Pakistan. "PR signs deal with foreign firm for pre-feasibility study of Pakistan-China rail link". Retrieved 2007-06-28.

External links


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