&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Pakistan_M-2.svg) | |
|---|---|
| ایم ٢ موٹروے | |
| لاہور-اسلام آباد موٹروے | |
 | |
| Route information | |
Part of  AH1 AH4 | |
| Maintained by National Highway Authority | |
| Length | 375 km (233 mi) |
| Existed | 1997–present |
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  Islamabad |
 M-4 Motorway Interchange  M-3 Motorway Interchange  Babu Sabu Interchange | |
| South end |  Thokar Niaz Baig, Lahore |
| Location | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Major cities | Chakwal Mandi Bahauddin Kallar Kahar Bhalwal Pindi Bhattian Sheikhupura Kot Abdul Malik |
| Highway system | |
The M-2 Motorway or the Lahore–Islamabad Motorway (Urdu: لاہور-اسلام آباد موٹروے) is a north–south motorway in Pakistan, connecting Rawalpindi/Islamabad to Lahore, and is the first motorway to have been built in South Asia.[1] 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 (to Faisalabad) at Pindi Bhattian and M-3 (to Multan) 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 (equivalent to US$2.8 billion in 2023) 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.[2]
There are ten service and rest areas on both sides of the motorway, with fueling, car wash, and car-repair facilities, and fast-food restaurants such as KFC, McDonald's, and Gloria Jean's Coffees, among others.[3]
In 2016, the entire motorway was resurfaced—work that stretched over several months. New toll plazas were installed on every interchange. They are payable with a new M-tag system that was introduced in December 2021.[4]
- ^ Malik, Ahmad Rashid (3 September 2008). M2- Motorway Pakistan-Japan Relations: Continuity and Change in Economic Relations and Security Interests. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-04196-1.
- ^ "Lahore-Islamabad Motorway". 70 Years of Impact : SMEC. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ PAF Conducts Fighter Operations From Motorway Pakistan Air Force website, Published 2 April 2010, Retrieved 10 October 2021
- ^ "Unregistered vehicles queued after mandatory imposition of M-tag on motorway". Dunya News. Retrieved 6 January 2022.