Chapter 1073: Major changes in transportation
The national economy of East Africa is currently mainly responsible for these seven urban agglomerations. According to Ernst’s opinion, the future industrial development of East Africa will still revolve around these seven urban agglomerations.
Although East African industries are clustered in these seven major regions, it also reflects the coordination of regional economic development by the East African central government.
Although it is not as good as Germany, compared with other powerful countries, the industrial distribution in East Africa is relatively balanced. This is actually closely related to the topography, resource distribution, and transportation pattern of East African countries.
The balanced distribution of German industry is also inseparable from these factors. German industry is mostly distributed in river valleys and other terrains, and cannot be concentrated like the United States or France. And due to historical reasons, the country's economy has been established as early as the era of numerous states. overall pattern.
Although the overall terrain of East Africa is relatively flat, it is also divided into several plateaus, coastal plains, and basins. This results in the current distribution of East Africa's economy and population. However, the area of these areas is relatively moderate. For example, the East African Plateau is nearly one million square meters. Kilometers are not too big or too small compared to the territory of East Africa. No geographical unit among the major territories of East Africa has an absolute advantage.
If it was the early days of East Africa, it would naturally be concentrated in the East African Plateau plate, because at that time the core territory of East Africa was centered on the East African Plateau. However, with the rapid expansion of East Africa's land area, the East African Plateau no longer met this condition.
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After analyzing the overall pattern of the national economy, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Railways began to summarize the work of the two departments during the Second Five-Year Plan period.
During the Second Five-Year Plan, East African railways still maintained rapid development, with a length of 200,000 kilometers, consolidating East Africa's status as the world's second largest railway network, but the status of railways in national transportation has declined.
Transportation Minister Rusher said: “In the past few years, the national railway network has been relatively complete, with the national railway mileage reaching 200,000 kilometers. Highways have developed more rapidly and accounted for an increasing share of transportation methods. , and can even become competitive with railways.”
Before the development of automobiles, the advantage of railway transportation in land transportation was almost unshakable. Now the automobile industry in East Africa is booming, and East Africa is rapidly developing into an automobile power, which has created strong competitive pressure on railways.
"As of 1909, my country's car ownership was 7.52 million, and during the Second Five-Year Plan period, the average annual car production was 1.2 million. Next year, my country's car ownership will exceed 10 million, from the end of the First Five-Year Plan From the beginning, the annual automobile production in East Africa has remained above one million vehicles year-round.”
“This has a huge impact on the transportation industry. Car transportation is more flexible than rail, especially in short- and medium-distance transportation, where cars have an undoubted advantage.”
The strong position of East Africa's automobile manufacturing industry has been difficult to be overthrown by other countries in a short period of time. For reference, at the end of World War I, the number of passenger cars registered in the United States was more than five million, so the number of cars in the United States at that time should be around this number. above, but unlikely to exceed current East African levels.
At present, the cost of automobile production in East Africa has been suppressed to less than 2,000 Rhine guilders. Cars have changed from a luxury product to a necessary and common means of transportation in East Africa. You must know that the population of East Africa was only more than 100 million at that time, which means that most families in East Africa have Already equipped with a car.
“This is inseparable from the vigorous development of my country’s highway transportation. As of 1909, the total mileage of hardened roads in our country reached more than four million kilometers, basically meeting the needs of the country’s transportation industry.”
“It is no exaggeration to say that road transportation has replaced railways as the number one mode of transportation in our country, and has also become a strong driving force for my country’s oil production and imports.” Raschel continued: “At the same time, our country’s inland water transportation and The scale of maritime transport is also expanding rapidly. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the navigable river sections of my country's inland water transport increased by 25% compared to the First Five-Year Plan. Although it is not as good as railway and road transportation, it has also achieved considerable development. Maritime transportation is mainly It is the increasingly improved port construction in coastal areas that has greatly improved my country’s maritime service capabilities.”
Through two five-year plans, East Africa has made great progress in modern transportation, and behind this progress is the bones of millions of black workers. A large number of black workers participated in the construction of roads and canals. This is also the rapid development of black workers in East Africa. One of the reasons for the decline.
Compared with Raschel's high spirits, the railway department is more discouraged. As Raschel said, although the East African railway has made brilliant achievements in the past ten years, it is not entirely the case in East Africa. The main problems are highways and railways. The development of water transportation has posed a huge challenge to railway transportation.
Of course, the Ministry of Railways cannot imagine at this time that in the future they will encounter another challenger that is no less inferior to the road, and that is aviation. Nowadays, East African aircraft manufacturing technology is advancing rapidly. In Ernst’s vision, the East African aviation industry Even if the scale does not reach an astonishing proportion like the United States, it will not be too bad.
It is precisely because of his understanding of the development of roads, aviation and other transportation modes that Ernst restricted the blind and radical development of his country's railways like the United States and European countries before the First Five-Year Plan.
This is undoubtedly correct. Nowadays, road transportation has formed strong competitiveness against railways, and the scale of highway transportation is still expanding rapidly.
Of course, although the Ministry of Railways is a little frustrated by the competition brought by transportation modes such as roads, it is undeniable that the advantages of railways make it impossible to completely replace them.
Minister of Railways Juris said: "From the First Five-Year Plan to the Second Five-Year Plan, our country's railways have nearly doubled the expansion of the national railways in the entire 19th century. The two five-year plans have built 110,000 kilometers of new railways, which ranks among the national transportation modes. Its dominant position is still irreplaceable. It connects major cities across the country and undertakes the main task of transporting bulk commodities such as timber, grain, and minerals. It also plays a huge role in national defense. "
“At the same time, the Ministry of Railways is actively promoting railway technological innovation during the Second Five-Year Plan, including railway information systems, locomotives and other innovations.”
“Although highways and other transportation modes have emerged, the role of railways cannot be replaced in long-distance transportation across the country, even the cheapest water transportation.”
Ernst affirmed: "Railways play a huge role in the transportation industry. Although transportation modes such as highways are rising rapidly and have replaced railways to a certain extent, as long as reasonable arrangements are made, railways will not decline. I have long ago I have said that the national railway mileage is expected to be about 300,000 kilometers. Although it is not as good as that in the United States, it is still enough. "
The United States has reached an astonishing 400,000 kilometers of railways. What cannot be ignored is that the United States is several million square kilometers smaller than East Africa, so the United States has a great advantage in railway density compared with East Africa.
However, this advantage is only temporary. When the Panama Canal opens in about four years, American railways will face a major crisis, especially rail freight connecting the two oceans. Many may choose to bypass the Panama Canal.
Moreover, although the domestic automobile industry in the United States has been severely impacted by East Africa, it is also booming. When American road transportation develops to the level of East Africa today, this will have a second impact on American railways. Of course, the premise is that American railways cannot make adjustments in time. .
(End of this chapter)