Agreed 100%. I said the project (modern urban transit) is vital for Lahore. I agree that it will remove a major bottleneck in the development of the city and its economy. I'm a Karachiite and I am all for putting the sexiest public transport system in Karachi, however, I am also a Pakistani and need to think about the cost to the country.
I was actually saying the same thing you said on another thread today. Agreed 100%. Pakistan's space program is a hostage to several other factors such as military capture as well but that is a discussion for another thread.
I am only saying that Pakistan is a country with limited resources, and therefore, we should aim for multiple and expansive, low-cost medium-tech solutions, as opposed to a few, high-cost high-tech solutions (which I think the Orange Line is). The point being getting more bang for the buck. Especially since good public transport is missing basically everywhere in Pakistan and we simply don't have the fiscal space to put an Orange Line in every major city. Instead of putting another Orange Line in Karachi, let's put a KCR in 10 major cities including Karachi.
This article makes the point I am making:
Official estimates say reviving KCR will cost Rs400 billion, but an alternate plan suggests it can be done in Rs30bn.
www.dawn.com