Wednesday 26th November 1997

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, formally opened Pakistan’s first stretch of motorway (M2), which went from the capital, Islamabad, to the capital of Punjab province, Lahore. In a speech at the opening ceremony just outside Islamabad, he described the motorway as the ‘pathway to prosperity for the country’. One of the most expensive motorways in Asia, the M2 has the highest pillared-bridge in Asia (at the Khewra Salt Range). The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has used the M2 motorway as a runway on two occasions: for the first time in 2000 when it landed an F-7P fighter, a Super Mushak trainer and a C-130 and, again, in 2010. On the last occasion, the PAF used a runway section on the M2 motorway on 2 April 2010 to land, refuel and take-off two jet fighters, a Mirage III and an F-7P, during its Highmark 2010 exercise. Pakistan’s motorways have a universal minimum speed limit of 60 km/h and a maximum speed limit of 110 km/h for heavy transport vehicles and 120 km/h for light transport vehicles. In sections of the motorway that pass through hilly or mountainous terrain, the minimum and maximum speed limits are reduced.