Transportation is crucial to the economy of country. Railways and roads are the main arteries of communication, allowing goods to be transported from one part of the country to another. Though them, goods can be sent to seaports and from there to countries around the world. The transportation network is linked to the economic development of a country. The more develpment the country the more sophisticated its methods of transport and communication. Pakistan's transport network is still in its infancy.

Railways
The railway inherited by Pakistan in 1947 was laid down by the British in 1861. In 1947, the route kilometers of the Pakistan Railways was 8554. No substantial addition to this could be made.
The extension work of the Pakistan Railways was hampered because of the difficulty in maintaining and running the existing strength, particularly as the locomotives were run on coal, as scarce commodity Pakistan produced was of an inferior quality, and it became increasingly difficult to import coal from India, the main supplier. Pakistan was forced to change its engines from coal to diesel at an enormous expense.
Workshops had to be set up to remodel, repair and and maintain them. Because there was little local wood, railway sleepers which were made of wood at the time were always in short supply. Pakistan Railways slowly made the transition to concrete sleepers. Just as Pakistan Railways was fully rehabilitated, there was a new source of competition to road transport.