Transportation

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 of which 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (broad gauge) forms 7,718 km including 293 km of electrified track. Pakistan Railways carry 65 million passengers annually and operates 228 mail, express and passenger trains every day.

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. Pakistan has also planned or had many Mass Transit Systems. The Karachi Circular Railway, which opened in the early 1940s, is the only functioning Mass Transit System 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. Pakistan has been successful in foreign trade using Railway. Pakistan has successfully traded with countries such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Turkmenistan and China.

Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier airline of Pakistan. The airline, with its head office on the grounds of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, in 2006 was the 31st largest airline in Asia, operating scheduled services to 23 domestic destinations and 36 international destinations in 25 countries across Asia, Europe and North America. Its main bases are Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad/Rawalpindi.

During the 1990s, Pakistan began an ongoing project to rebuild all national highways commonly known as Motorways 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. 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 first motorway to be completed was M1 in 1997 from Peshawar to Islamabad.

Later on, Highways such asM2 from Islamabad to Lahore, M3 from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad, M9 from Hyderabad to Karachi, Karachi Northern Bypass from Hyderabad to Karachi, Lahore ring road project. 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.. Pakistan has About 139 Airports in all together. Out of 139, only 10 of them are International.