The M-2 Motorway or the Lahore–Islamabad Motorway is a north–south motorway in Pakistan, connecting Rawalpindi/Islamabad to Lahore, and is the first motorway to have been built in South Asia. The M-2 is 375 km long and located entirely in Punjab. It continues on to eventually become the M-1 motorway, which terminates in Peshawar.
The M-2 crosses the junction of M-4 at Pindi Bhattian and M-3 at Dera Saithan Wala. The motorway is also a part of the Asian Highway AH1. The motorway was constructed during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's rule and cost over Rs. 60 billion and was opened in November 1997. One of the most expensive motorways in Asia, it also has one of the highest pillared-bridges in Asia at the Khewra Salt Range section.
The motorway passing through the Salt Range
Kallar kahar service area on M-2
M-2 Motorway on a sunny afternoon
M-2 Motorway approaching Islamabad
Motorways of Pakistan are a network of multiple-lane, high-speed, controlled-access highways in Pakistan which are owned, maintained, and operated federally by Pakistan's National Highway Authority. At present, 2567 km of motorways are operational, while an additional 1191 km are under construction. Motorways are a part of Pakistan's “National Trade Corridor Project” and “China-Pakistan Belt Road Initiative,” from Khunjerab Pass near the Chinese border to Gwadar in Balochistan. There are a total of 16 motorways, 11 of which are operational, while some are under construction and others are planned.
M-2 motorway in the Salt Range
M-2 motorway exit to Sargodha
Motorway police patrolling the M-2 motorway
A RFID MTAG used for electronic toll collection on controlled-access highways/motorways within Pakistan.