DP World has officially opened ‘DP World Lahore’, a state-of-the-art inland container terminal (ICT) also known as Prem Nagar Dry Port, in Pakistan, the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) project by the Ministry of Railways.

DPW expands Pakistan rail operations

The facility will serve Pakistan’s largest hinterland market – the Lahore-Sahiwal region – and is directly linked by rail to the company’s Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) in Karachi, more than 1,000 km away.

The ICT’s inauguration closely follows the opening of Terminal 2 in Port Qasim this January, which expanded QICT’s annual capacity from 900,000 teu to around 1.2m teu, as part of DP World’s three-phase development plans, representing the largest ever investment in Pakistan’s port sector.

Built over 40 hectares, the facility is connected by extensive rail and networks to some of the country’s most populous areas. The terminal will be managed and operated by DP World in a joint venture with Premier Mercantile Services, one of Pakistan’s largest maritime terminal operators.

Designed and developed to international standards, DP World Lahore offers the local trading community a 25,000 sq ft fully-equipped container freights station and will provide local haulage services beyond the gate to the customers’ doorstep.

“Railways are a very cost efficient and reliable mode of transporting containers across a large country like Pakistan. DP World Lahore will change the dynamics of the domestic supply chain sector by enhancing logistical efficiencies for the trading fraternity and delivering considerable savings in cost and time,” said Changez Niazi, CEO, DP World Karachi.