The transport system in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, the capital of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

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

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

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 ...

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 Fayzabad Interchange () 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 in Ja ...

, the first

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passe ...

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 (), sometimes also referred to as Islamabad Highway, is a major north–south expressway in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. The expressway provides quick access between the Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Punjab, co ...

* 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 impor ...

* 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 the fourth-largest metropolitan area of Pakistan, after Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. It consists of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The area includes the Pothohar Plateau ...

. 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 (), formerly known as the Kashmir Highway (), is a major east–west highway in the Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It provides quick access through Islamabad and connects the Islamabad International Airport in the ...

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, Washington, D.C., northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and ...

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. Members of the G ...

. The main attractions on the bus route include

Faisal Mosque The Faisal Mosque () is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in the capital city, Islamabad. It is the List of largest mosques, sixth-largest mosque in the world, the largest mosque outside the Middle East, and the largest within South Asia ...

, Marghrzar Zoo,

Daman-e-Koh Daman-e-Koh () is a hilltop garden north of Islamabad. It is in the center of the Margalla Hills. The name is a fusion of two Persian words "Dāman" (دامن) meaning "skirt" and "Kōh" (کوہ) meaning "hill", which collectively denote "foothill ...

, Lok Virsa,

Pakistan Museum of Natural History Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH), () 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 ecology, g ...

Rose and Jasmine Garden Rose and Jasmine Garden is a public garden located within the recreational area of Shakarparian near Sports Complex Aabpara, on Kashmir Highway in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. The garden runs under the administration of Capital Deve ...

, Allama Iqbal Park, and

Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located close to Pir Meher Ali Shah University and Rawalpindi Arts Council and has an estimated capacity of 18,000. The f ...

Light rail transit and monorail proposals

Some Chinese firms have shown keen interests on constructing a

monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

and

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

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 In urban planning, walkability is the accessibility of amenities within a reasonable walking distance. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport corridors designed for maximum vehicle throughput. Instead, it s ...

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 Car dependency is a pattern in urban planning that occurs when infrastructure favors automobiles over other modes of transport, such as public transport, bicycles, and walking. Car dependency is associated with higher transport pollution than tr ...

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 70 cities, covering 10 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia regions. It offers ride-hailing, bicycle rental, food delivery, grocery delivery, and digital wallets. It ...

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

Bykea Bykea, stylized as BYKEA, is a Pakistani ride-hailing service and parcel delivery company based in Karachi. It was founded by Muneeb Maayr in 2016. History Bykea was started in December 2016 in Karachi, Pakistan. The company currently operates ...

, and

InDriver inDrive (previously known as inDriver), is an international ride-hailing service with more than 200 million downloads operating in more that 700 cities in over 45 countries. Headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company was officiall ...

for their local journeys. In March 2016,

introduced its service in

and

. In September 2019,

Swvl Swvl Holdings Corp. is an Dubai-based provider of intercity, intracity, B2B and B2G transportation products and services. Swvl operates in 135 cities in 20 countries across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The company went public in March ...

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

and several other bus transport companies also operate in Islamabad.

Rail transport

The following stations serve Islamabad by rail: *

Rawalpindi railway station Rawalpindi Railway Station (Urdu and ) is located in Saddar area of Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. It is one of several major stops on the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line. The nearest Saddar Metrobus Station, part of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Me ...

, located in Saddar, Rawalpindi, 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. * Margalla railway station is located in sector I-9

, Capital Territory,

. * 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 is the state-owned railway operator in Pakistan. Founded in 1861 as the North Western State Railway and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of operational track across Pakistan, stretching from Peshawar to Karachi, offering bot ...

, 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 an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of ...

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 Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

civilization, the ancient city of

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...

. * Tarnol railway station, located in a suburb of Islamabad, is nearest to the

Islamabad International Airport Islamabad International Airport () () is an international airport serving Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan and Rawalpindi. It is located south-west of the city, and is directly connected to the Lahore and Peshawar motorways as well to ...

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 (, ) is an airport which formerly served the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area. It was the second-largest airport by air traffic in Pakistan, until 1 May 2018 when it was replaced by the new Islama ...

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