The transport system in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

, the capital of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, connects it with all major cities and towns via regular trains and bus services running mostly from the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

are linked to Islamabad through a network of

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

which has resulted in a significant reduction in travelling times between these cities. M-2 Motorway is 367 km long and connects Islamabad with Lahore, whereas M-1 Motorway connects Islamabad with Peshawar and is 155 km long. Islamabad is linked to its twin city Rawalpindi through the

Faizabad Interchange Faizabad Interchange ( ur, ) is a cloverleaf interchange which serves as a junction between Islamabad Highway and Murree Road in Islamabad, Pakistan. Constructed by NESPAK at a cost of Rs 130 million (£745,000), the interchange was completed i ...

, the first cloverleaf interchange in Pakistan, with a daily traffic volume of about 48,000 vehicles (2011).

Road transport

Territorial Roads and Highways

Motorways

M-2 Motorway is 367 km long and connects Islamabad with Lahore. M-1 Motorway connects Islamabad with Peshawar and is 155 km long.

National Highways & Expressways

Islamabad Expressway The Islamabad Expressway ( ur, ), sometimes Islamabad Highway) is a major north-south expressway in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. The expressway provides quick access between Islamabad and Rawalpindi, connecting the national capital wi ...

* E-75 Expressway * Margalla Highway *

N-5 National Highway The N-5 or National Highway 5 (Urdu: ) is a 1819 km national highway in Pakistan, which extends from Karachi in Sindh to Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Route The N-5 is the longest national highway in Pakistan and serves as an importa ...

* N-80 National Highway

Public transport

Local buses and wagons

The Islamabad Capital Territory Administration operates buses to serve the local community. As of 2021, there are 15 operational routes along which the buses and wagons operate.

Metrobus

The

Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus is a bus rapid transit system operating in the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area of Pakistan. It consists of four routes, namely the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green Lines. The Red and Orange Lines have d ...

is a bus rapid transit system operating in the

Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area The Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area (Urdu:) is 3rd largest metropolitan area of Pakistan after Karachi and Lahore. It consists Pakistan of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, along with several gated suburbs include Chaklala Ca ...

. It consists of four routes, namely the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green Lines. The Red and Orange Lines have dedicated lanes with proper stations built along them, while the Blue and Green Lines currently run along the

and

Srinagar Highway The Srinagar Highway ( ur, ; previously known as the Kashmir Highway) is a major east-west highway in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. The highway provides quick access through Islamabad and connects the Islamabad International Airport ...

respectively, with regular traffic.

Sightseeing buses

The Tourism Development Corporation Punjab operates tourist buses from Allama Iqbal Park and Shamsabad bringing tourists to

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its western section was greatly lengthened and widened bet ...

via

Shakarparian Shakarparian (; also known as Shakarparian Hills) is a hill, and a national park located near the Zero Point Interchange in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan Monument and Pakistan Monument Museum are also located in Shakarparian. The old Gakhars ...

. The main attractions on the bus route include

Faisal Mosque The Faisal Mosque ( ur, , faisal masjid) is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in capital Islamabad. It is the fifth-largest mosque in the world and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills in Pakistan's ...

, Marghrzar Zoo,

Daman-e-Koh Daman-e-Koh ( ur, ) is a viewing point and hill top garden north of Islamabad and located in the middle of the Margalla Hills. Its name is a conjunction of two Persian words, which together means foot hills. It is about 2400 ft from sea lev ...

, Lok Virsa,

Pakistan Museum of Natural History Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH), ( ur, ) established in 1976, is a public natural history museum situated in Islamabad, the federal capital of Pakistan. It has exhibits and galleries which display and provide information about the ecol ...

, Rose and Jasmine Garden, Allama Iqbal Park, and Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Light rail transit and monorail proposals

Some Chinese firms have shown keen interests on constructing a

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...

and light rail system in the federal capital

Public transportation issues

Surveys conducted in 2012 for the Pre-Feasibility Study of the Bus rapid transit have shown that more than 90% of residents of the city are unhappy with the current public transportation system of the city. The lack of a better public transport system and low emphasis on

walkability Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport ...

has led to rapid growth in the vehicle population and has made the city planning more automobile-centric to cope with increasing traffic. The accompanying petroleum consumption and the now car-centric city planning - accompanying the rapid expansion of city have also caused environmental pollution and damage.

Private transport

Ride hailing

People use private ride hailing services like

Careem Careem is a Dubai-based super app with operations in over 100 cities, covering 12 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia regions. The company, which was valued at over billion in 2018, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber ...

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), packa ...

Bykea Bykea, stylized as BYKEA, is a Pakistani ride hailing service and parcel delivery company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Muneeb Maayr in 2016. It competes with Careem Bike and Uber Moto in the region. History Bykea was started i ...

, and InDriver for their local journeys. In March 2016,

introduced its service in

and Rawalpindi. In September 2019, Swvl expanded its operations to Islamabad. Pakistan's first electric scooter sharing service, ezBike, is headquartered in

Taxicabs

Most of the registered

Taxicabs A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

in Islamabad were introduced during 1990s through loan packages from Yellow Cab Scheme. There are also some privately-owned taxicab services such as those offered by Albayrak and Metro Radio Cab.

Bus companies

Daewoo Express Daewoo Express is an inter-city common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 60 destinations in Pakistan. Its headquarters are in Lahore. History A timeline of the operations and beginnings of Daewoo Express Ltd: * December 1997 - incorpor ...

and several other bus transport companies also operate in Islamabad.

Rail transport

The following stations serve Islamabad by rail: * Rawalpindi railway station, located in

Saddar, Rawalpindi Saddar, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, is the main commercial hub of Rawalpindi Cantonment. It is located between the Mall road and the main railway lines connecting Rawalpindi with down-country. It has some major business and commercial centres, main br ...

, is one of several major railway stations on the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line. The nearest Saddar Metrobus Station, part of the

is 20 minutes (1.5 km) walk away. *

Islamabad railway station Islamabad Railway Station ( ur, ) (formerly Margalla railway station) is located in sector I-9 in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. The station appears as Margala on the Pakistan Railways website. History The station was established in 19 ...

(formerly Margalla railway station) is located in sector I-9

Capital Territory A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

. * Golra Sharif Station, also known as Pakistan Railways Heritage Museum, is a

railway museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives ( steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic ...

located near the Sector F-13 of

, the capital of

. It is a junction station in Rawalpindi Division of the

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of track across Pakistan, stretching from Torkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger servi ...

, located at 1,994

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

above sea level, in the southeast of the

Margalla The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayan foothills. The M ...

Hills and east of the cradle of Gandhara civilization, the ancient city of Taxila. * Tarnol railway station, located in a suburb of Islamabad, is nearest to the

Islamabad International Airport Islamabad International Airport () is the international airport serving Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. It is located south-west of the city, and is accessed via Srinagar Highway. The airport commenced full operations in 6 May 20 ...

Air transport

Islamabad International Airport Departure

is connected to major destinations around the world through the

, which replaced the old

Benazir Bhutto International Airport Benazir Bhutto International Airport ( ur, , ) is a defunct airport which formerly served the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area. It was the second-largest airport by air traffic in Pakistan, until 3 May 2018 when it was replaced by the ...

in April 2018. The new airport is the largest in Pakistan. It is the first green field airport in Pakistan and has an area of .

References

{{Islamabad