Chapter 1524: Integrating Resources

The traction locomotive of a high-speed train can be a steam locomotive, a diesel locomotive, or an electric locomotive. The United Kingdom and the United States are the two leading countries in the field of steam high-speed train research.

The Flying Scotsman currently in operation in the UK can reach a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour, and the fastest steam train in the United States can reach 140 kilometers per hour. And this is not the limit of the UK. A few years later in the previous life, the steam train developed by the UK even set a record of more than 200 kilometers per hour.

As for the United States, although it also has diesel locomotive research and development projects, it has not yet been put into large-scale application. It was not until the 1940s that the United States began to phase out steam locomotives on a large scale and replace them with diesel locomotives.

Among the world's major industrial powers, East Africa may have the weakest foundation and strength in the field of steam locomotive research and development. There is no way to avoid this. After all, at the end of the 19th century, East African industry was still learning from Europe and the United States. It was not until the beginning of this century that East Africa's independent research and development capabilities were improved.

However, at this time, the world was dominated by internal combustion engines, and steam power could only be used in the field of shipbuilding, but it also faced competition from internal combustion engines.

However, this also makes East Africa and Germany rank in the first echelon in the world in the field of diesel locomotives and electric locomotives. Before 1910, Germany still ranked first. Starting in the 1920s, East Africa's military industry and scientific research made comprehensive efforts to catch up with Germany.

Although Germany had an early layout in East Africa, we cannot ignore its strong industrial strength and abundant talent pool from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

As early as 1903, Germany developed an electric locomotive with a speed of over 200 kilometers per hour, but due to the limitation of technology, it was not commercialized. This is also a microcosm of Germany's technology application. As of now, there are still a large number of steam trains in operation in Germany.

At the same time, the proportion of steam locomotives in East Africa has dropped to an extremely low level. Diesel locomotives now occupy a major position in East African railways, and electric locomotives are developing rapidly, already accounting for a high proportion in the East African railway system, threatening the position of diesel locomotives.

Minister of Railways Wells said: "Your Highness, in summary, if the imperial railway business wants to continue to develop, the most fundamental thing is to form differentiated competition with road transportation, especially in the field of medium and long-distance passenger transportation."

"The reason for the railway's losses is basically due to passenger transport. This is a global problem. In countries like the Far Eastern Empire and the Soviet Union, where road transport has not yet developed, railway passenger transport has performed well in terms of profitability."

"Of course, these countries with low industrial levels have relatively few railway lines and even fewer passenger lines, so people and businesses have few choices."

"But East Africa is different. Our total railway mileage exceeds 300,000 kilometers, forming a relatively dense and developed railway network. This has also caused passenger traffic to be split. Passengers originally could only choose one route, and the radiation range is wider."

"Now, with the comprehensive gridding of East African railways, passengers have more choices, and people in the same area can also choose the most convenient station to board the train."

"However, this also leads to an increase in the operating costs of our railway system, but such a basic livelihood project obviously cannot be measured in terms of economic benefits."

Not only in East Africa, but also in many European countries, railways will also consider this issue. For example, in Germany, in order to take care of the travel needs of low-income groups, German Railways will also subsidize some non-profit lines.

A term that we have to mention here is "car poverty". This phenomenon is particularly prominent in major car countries such as the United States and East Africa.

After all, cars also require fuel and maintenance. If low-income groups buy vehicles, it will increase their burden and reduce consumption in food, medical care, education and other areas.

The US government may not pay attention to this issue, but the East African government obviously does not have this attitude, which is reflected in East Africa's emphasis on the development of public transportation.

In public transportation, railways undoubtedly fall into this category, especially inter-regional travel. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of low-income groups, cheap public transportation services are essential.

Today, labor parties are rampant in countries around the world. If we do not pay attention to basic people's livelihood and social equity issues, it may cause social unrest.

This is also one of the reasons why many European countries attach importance to social transportation equity. Of course, European countries may also consider it from the energy perspective. Just like Germany, because of the scarcity of oil resources, it pays more attention to the development of the railway sector.

After listening to Wells's explanation, Crown Prince Frederick was silent for a moment. He said, "In this case, the reform of the railway system can be temporarily slowed down. The current main tasks are as you said, focusing on two aspects: one is to optimize the lines, and the other is to continue to promote the electrification of the railway."

"Especially for the railway network in the eastern and central regions of our country, your Ministry of Railways should conduct a detailed investigation and demonstration, abolish some unreasonable routes and stations across the country, and integrate the suggestions and needs of the society to improve the imperial railway network."

"Right now, the Empire is building water transportation on a large scale. You should also pay attention to this and communicate with the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Water Resources, the State Grid and other departments and units."

Water transport is also quite competitive against railways. If roads mainly take away the jobs of railway passenger transport, then water transport takes away the jobs of freight transport.

Freight, especially the transportation of bulk commodities, happens to be the main source of revenue for railways, and this is the same in all countries.

For example, after the complete demise of American railway passenger transport in the past, most of the lines focused on freight transport. After all, freight transport is different from passenger transport.

Railway passenger transport must take into account the time requirements of passengers and cannot be changed at will and be more flexible like buses and cars. This leads to a serious problem of empty carriages in railway passenger transport.

This is the case when the economy, population and urban distribution in East Africa are relatively balanced. The problem in the United States is even more prominent. Now the U.S. population is mainly concentrated in the east, and the Midwest is relatively weak. Since the last century, the United States has built a large number of railways in the Midwest, which is also an important reason for the loss of U.S. railway passenger transport.

Friedrich went on to say: “In recent years, with the implementation of many large-scale water conservancy projects, the national power structure will also undergo major changes, and this is closely related to the electrification of the imperial railways.”

"After all, railway electrification must take into account power resources and transmission issues. Looking at countries around the world, countries with a high degree of railway electrification generally have strong hydropower, which accounts for a large proportion of their power generation structure."

"East Africa itself is a country with abundant hydropower resources. During the electrification process of the central and western railways, the degree of electrification is higher than that of other regions in the country. Therefore, you should pay attention to this issue during the line optimization process."

The hydropower resources in central and western East Africa are extremely rich, which is roughly the area where Congo, Angola and Zambia were located in the past. Especially in the Congo River basin, many tributaries of the Congo River have been developed and utilized in East Africa, becoming a hydropower energy base in East Africa.

The hydropower resources in the central and western regions are only representative in East Africa. The hydropower resources in other regions are also considerable. For example, the management and development of the Zambezi River Basin will further enhance and regulate the national power generation structure in East Africa.

At present, hydropower accounts for more than 150 percent of the power generation structure in East Africa, which is very telling. Before the 1920s, hydropower generation in East Africa was less than 30 percent.

"In recent years, hydropower has grown rapidly, especially in the south and east. Once projects such as the Cahora Bassa Hydropower Station are completed, the regional distribution of the empire's power industry will be completely changed."

"You can cooperate with the water conservancy and power departments to speed up the construction of electrified railways. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan period, it would be best if the proportion of electrified railways in the country could reach 40 percent."

This time the proportion is already very high. Even in the 21st century, there were not many countries where the proportion of electrified railways exceeded 40%.

Taking Africa in the past as an example, except for South Africa where the electrified railways accounted for more than 30%, the electrified railways in other African countries accounted for no more than 10%.

Of course, in the past, in many African countries, let alone electrified railways, even ordinary railways were not common in sub-Saharan Africa.

Apart from Africa, only the Far East and Europe have a high level of electrified railways. In the 21st century, Switzerland still has the highest level of electrification, almost 100%, followed by Belgium, over 80%, and Japan and the Far East Empire both over 70%.

On the contrary, the development of railways in North America lags behind that in Europe and the Far East. The proportion of electrified railways in the United States and Canada is less than one percent. This is similar to the fact that the proportion of diesel trains in the United States and Canada today is extremely low and steam locomotives dominate.

But this is easy to understand. North America, especially the United States and Canada, has flat terrain, which means that the two countries' hydropower potential is not high. At the same time, after the emergence of road transportation and the subsequent aviation industry, the two countries have no motivation to develop railway transportation.

Friedrich's big pie is still not finished. He continued: "By 1940, the proportion of electrified railways in my country must exceed 50%, especially in the central economic zone, where railway electrification must be fully realized."

The Central Economic Zone does not refer to the central part of East Africa, but the vast area in the middle of the north and south of East Africa, parallel to the equator. This area includes Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Congo, Zambia and Angola in the previous life.

That is, the area between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, where the population is most concentrated, the economy is most developed, and the cities are most densely populated in East Africa.

The railway passenger and freight transport volume in the Central Economic Zone also accounts for the highest proportion in the East African national railway network. After all, this region not only undertakes the main passenger and freight transportation in East Africa, but is also an important hub for trade in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

For example, goods from Brazil can be shipped by sea to ports in western East Africa, then arrive at ports in eastern East Africa via East African railways, and then transported to the Indian Ocean or even the Pacific Ocean coast.

Although the cost of transporting bulk commodities is still lower than directly bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, it is of great significance to the economy of East Africa.

Moreover, during this period, trade between eastern South American countries and Asia was not very active. After all, both sides are agricultural countries and their economic complementarity is not strong. On the contrary, East Africa is in the middle position and has become the final trading location for most trade.

Take the rubber industry for example. Brazilian rubber is exported to East Africa, and after processing, it is exported to all parts of the world. The Far East Empire does not have rubber plantations, but it does not need to trade with Brazil. After all, rubber in Southeast Asia is very cheap and close, and East Africa itself has colonies in Southeast Asia.

Similarly, the main export commodities of the Far Eastern Empire, such as pig hair, tung oil, minerals, etc., are hardly needed by South American countries and are mainly exported to industrial countries such as East Africa.

After all, South American countries mainly import industrial manufactured products rather than industrial production raw materials, and their own industries are almost negligible.

In this way, Africa's geographical advantage in world trade, located between Eurasia, Oceania and South America, has been reflected, and East Africa, as Africa's first industrial power, has also occupied a dominant position in this trade system that East Africa has actively cultivated.

Friedrich said: "East Africa is a key node in world trade, and the development of the transportation sector can continuously consolidate our advantages in world trade."

"Railways occupy an important position in the transportation field of the empire, so we need to work together to improve the efficiency of railway transportation, reduce intermediate links, and reduce the cost of railway transportation."

"Against the backdrop of the great development of the Empire's highway transportation, the railway sector cannot respond passively. In addition to improving its technical level and optimizing its internal systems, it must also strengthen cooperation with the highway and water transport sectors to achieve combined transportation of highways, railways and water transport."

"In this process, various departments should consult with each other on some routes to avoid duplication of construction. For example, in the Zambezi River Basin, after the main stream of the Zambezi River is navigable, bulk cargo transportation along the Zambezi River will inevitably give priority to water transportation."

"Railway and road departments should not overbuild and overinvest in their regions, and should even abandon some investment and operations."

"Similarly, in some short- and medium-distance transport, because of the emergence of highways, your railway department should be bold and take the initiative to give up the unfavorable competition with highways."

"Of course, other transportation departments should do the same. In short, the direction of transportation development in the empire is a diversified and balanced development model."

“Compared to competition, cooperation is the main direction of various transportation sectors in East Africa in the future, thus promoting the empire to establish the world’s most efficient transportation network and pattern.”

In short, what Friedrich meant was to reduce the internal friction of transportation within East Africa. Under the unified coordination of the country, various types of transportation would find their most suitable positions and develop in a coordinated manner.

Before the 1920s, although East African transportation also emphasized balance, in the development process of various transportation fields, more emphasis was placed on volume. In addition, East African countries had a short history and lacked experience, which led to some confusion and waste in the field of transportation development.

The East African economy has long since passed the extensive development model. Especially in the international competition, only by achieving optimal allocation of resources can East Africa continue to consolidate its advantages in the world market.

Just like now, the US economy is a mess. Even if we wait until the US economy is reorganized and recovered, during this period of time, countries such as East Africa and the Soviet Union will have already taken a few steps ahead. East Africa will expand its leading advantage, while the Soviet Union will catch up with the gap with other industrial countries.

In fact, as the world's largest industrial country, there is still controversy as to whether East Africa is the world's first industrial power. After all, although East Africa's industrial scale ranks first in the world, there is still a certain gap between East Africa and European and American countries in terms of per capita output.

This can be reflected to a certain extent in the level of urbanization. Therefore, East Africa should take advantage of the important historical opportunity of the economic crisis to integrate domestic resources and narrow the gap with other countries, so as to make East Africa the world's number one power.

(End of this chapter)