'Subway On Wheels': Pakistan's Lahore Gets 'South Asia's First' Trackless Rapid Rail
Posting a video on social media, Pakistan Punjab's CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif said the system is "modern, cost-effective and environment-friendly alternative to conventional transport"
What is trackless, environment-friendly, and runs on rubber tyres on roads? It is the new rapid rail in Lahore, which was welcomed by Pakistan Punjab's Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
Billed as a 'subway on wheels", this is Pakistan's first trackless and ticketless solar-powered Metro whose country of origin is China. It is part of Punjab's effort to modernise urban transport and a larger plan to deploy this system in 30 cities.
Posting a video on social media, Sharif claimed that the rapid rail system is South Asia's first such, and is a 'modern, cost-effective and environment-friendly alternative to conventional transport".
'South Asia's first ART (Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit) has arrived in Lahore. It is track-less, runs on rubber tires & carries 300 passengers. It is a modern, cost-effective & environment-friendly alternative to conventional transport. Test run on canal road soon Insha'Allah!" Sharif posted on X.
Watch the video here:
This 'track-less" Metro, which will run around on roads, is called the super autonomous rail rapid transit (SRT) and is part of Sharif's newly approved five-year transport masterplan of an automated rapid transport (ART) system in the province. It uses cutting-edge virtual track technology with sensors, GPS, and digital mapping to operate on roads without tracks and is fully electric.
According to a report in Gulf News, the SRT system is part of a pilot project for now. Its trial run has begun near Lahore airport, with a controlled corridor selected for early-stage testing, it said. It
The report said officials from both Pakistan and China attended the launch. 'This is not just a test drive. This is a test for the future of public transport in Punjab," an official from the provincial transport department was quoted.
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July 30, 2025, 16:44 IST
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