Chapter 1073 Major changes in transportation
At present, the seven major city clusters are the main drivers of East Africa's national economy. According to Ernst's opinion, the industrial development of East Africa will continue to revolve around these seven major city clusters.
Although East African industries are concentrated in these seven major regions, they also reflect the coordination of the East African central government on regional economic development.
Although it is not as good as Germany, compared with other powerful countries, the industrial distribution in East Africa is relatively balanced, which is actually closely related to the topography, resource distribution and transportation pattern of East African countries.
Like the balanced distribution of German industry, it is also inseparable from these factors. German industry is mostly distributed in terrains such as river valleys, and cannot be concentrated like the United States or France. And because of historical reasons, the overall economic pattern of the country was established as early as the era of numerous states.
Although the overall terrain of East Africa is relatively flat, it is also divided into several plateaus, coastal plains and basins, which makes the economy and population of East Africa present the current distribution effect, but these areas are relatively moderate. For example, the East African Plateau is nearly one million square kilometers, which is not too big or small compared to the land of East Africa. There is no geographical unit in the main land of East Africa that can occupy an absolute advantage.
If it was in the early days of East Africa, it would naturally be concentrated in the East African Plateau, because the core territory of East Africa at that time was centered on the East African Plateau, but with the rapid expansion of the land area of East Africa, the East African Plateau no longer has 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.
During the Second Five-Year Plan, the East African railway continued to develop at a high speed, with a length of 200,000 kilometers, consolidating East Africa's position as the world's second largest railway network, but the status of railways in national transportation has declined.
Minister of Transport Rachel said: "In the past few years, the railway network in national transportation has been relatively complete, the national railway mileage has reached 200,000 kilometers, and highways have developed more rapidly, accounting for an increasing proportion of transportation methods, and can even form competitiveness 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 towards a strong automobile country, thus forming strong competitive pressure on railways.
"As of 1909, my country has 7.52 million cars. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the annual average car production was 1.2 million. Next year, my country's car ownership will exceed 10 million. Since the end of the First Five-Year Plan, the annual production of cars in East Africa has been maintained at more than one million."
"This has a huge impact on the transportation industry. Automobile transportation is more flexible than railways, especially in medium and short-distance transportation, where cars have an undoubted advantage."
The strong position of East Africa's automobile manufacturing industry is difficult to be overturned by other countries in a short period of time. For reference, at the end of World War I in the previous life, the number of registered passenger cars in the United States was more than 5 million, so the number of cars in the United States at that time should be above this number, but it is impossible to exceed the current level in East Africa.
The current cost of automobile production in East Africa has been suppressed to less than 2,000 Rhine guilders. Cars have changed from luxury goods to necessary and common means of transportation in East Africa. You must know that the population of East Africa at that time was only more than 100 million, which means that most families in East Africa can afford cars.
"Nowadays, cars are very common all over the country. Whether in cities or rural areas, for travel or transportation, cars have become the most common means of transportation. Even in the most remote cities, there are cars."
"This is inseparable from the vigorous development of my country's road transportation. As of 1909, the total mileage of my country's hardened roads reached more than 4 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 my country's top transportation mode, and has also become a strong driving force for my country's oil production and imports."
Lasher continued: "At the same time, the scale of my country's inland waterway and sea transportation is also expanding rapidly. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the navigable river sections of my country's inland waterway increased by 25% compared with the First Five-Year Plan. Although it is not as good as railway and road transportation, it has also made great progress. In terms of sea transportation, the main thing is that the construction of ports in coastal areas is becoming increasingly perfect, which has greatly improved my country's shipping service capabilities."
Through two five-year plans, East Africa's modern transportation has made great progress, and behind this progress is indeed the bones of millions of black workers. A large number of black workers participated in the construction of roads and canals, which is also one of the reasons for the rapid decline of black people in East Africa.
Compared with Raschel's high spirits, the railway department is more discouraged. As Raschel said, although the East African railway has achieved brilliant results in the past decade, it is not entirely true in East Africa itself. The main reason is that the development of roads and water transportation has posed a huge challenge to railway transportation.
Of course, the Ministry of Railways cannot imagine at this time that they will encounter another challenger in the future that is no less inferior to roads, that is, aviation. Now East Africa's aircraft manufacturing technology is advancing rapidly. In Ernst's vision, even if the scale of East African aviation industry cannot reach the amazing proportion like the United States, it will not be too bad.
And it is precisely because of the understanding of the development of roads, aviation and other modes of transportation that Ernst restricted the blind and radical development of the country's railways like the United States and European countries before the First Five-Year Plan.
And this is undoubtedly correct. Today, road transportation has formed a strong competitiveness against railways, and the scale of road transportation is still expanding rapidly.
Of course, although the Ministry of Railways is somewhat frustrated by the competition brought about by highways and other transportation modes, 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 the United States, it is enough. "
The U.S. railways have reached an astonishing 400,000 kilometers, and one thing that 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 for rail freight connecting the two oceans. Many may choose to bypass the Panama Canal.
Moreover, although the U.S. domestic automobile industry has been severely impacted by East Africa, it is also booming. When U.S. road transportation develops to the level of East Africa today, this will have a second impact on U.S. railways. Of course, the premise is that U.S. railways cannot make adjustments in time. .