Lahore’s rapid urban expansion has brought mobility challenges that conventional road-based solutions are increasingly unable to resolve. Traffic congestion, rising fuel consumption, deteriorating air quality, and growing commuter stress indicate that the city’s transport system requires structural rethinking rather than incremental expansion. While recent investments such as the Metrobus system and the Orange Line Metro Train have improved mobility along selected corridors, an important component of an integrated metropolitan transport system remains missing: a suburban commuter rail network built upon infrastructure that already exists.

Running through Lahore is a railway corridor that naturally forms a south–north urban spine, connecting Raiwind, Jiya Bagga, Kahna, Kot Lakhpat, Walton, Lahore Cantt, Mughalpura, Lahore Junction, Shahdara, Kala Shah Kaku, and Muridke. Many of these stations lie close to dense residential settlements, industrial zones, and emerging educational centres, yet the corridor remains largely underutilised for daily urban commuting despite its strategic alignment with population and economic activity.

The concept of rail-based metropolitan mobility is not new. The Lahore Urban Transport Master Plan, prepared with technical assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), identified commuter rail as an essential element of long-term urban........

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