Overview

• Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz and Transport Minister Bilal Akbar conducted an inaugural ride on the SART vehicle from Raiwind Road to Muslim Town in Lahore as part of the province’s urban transport push.
• Imported from China’s Norinco International and marketed as the Super Autonomous Rapid Transit, the zero-emission vehicle is said to carry up to 320 passengers in three compartments with an optional fourth coach.
• Officials have touted plans to expand the trackless tram system to around 30 cities across Punjab as part of efforts to modernize public transit.
• A viral clip of the launch racked up millions of views on X and prompted widespread online criticism, with users mocking the tram as merely an articulated bus.
• Community-sourced notes on X linked to Wikipedia entries classifying the vehicle as an articulated bus, and no independent assessments have yet verified its operational advantages.