Chapter 452 East African Railway Network

In the blink of an eye, the time came to 1875. The new population policy in East Africa did arouse criticism from some people, but it was generally acceptable.

Because even if the government reduces expenditures in this area, the cost of childbirth in East Africa is still the lowest in the world, and East Africa cannot apply a one-size-fits-all approach. Therefore, currently, childbirth subsidies still exist, but only three are provided. Later, people must rely on their own efforts.

In 1875, the section of the Central Railway from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya was basically completed, the Northern Railway was completed as a whole, 80% of the Little Rhine River reconstruction project was completed, and the Central Canal was completely completed.

The Little Rhine River reconstruction project is not at all simpler than building a canal. The amount of the project has exceeded that of the canal project. The Little Rhine River not only revolves around the Little Rhine, but also takes into account river changes in the entire basin and the East African farmland irrigation system, as well as hydrological conditions. , especially during the flood season, work is difficult to do. Work is often delayed due to heavy rains and turbulent rivers.

However, the middle and lower reaches of the Little Rhine have finally been transformed to look like European rivers, changing their natural form for thousands of years.

The New Hamburg Port has also been completed. Currently, starting from the cities of New Hamburg and Mbeya, the construction of double sections of the Southern Line of the Central Railway has begun, which has greatly accelerated the construction of the Central Railway.

“Now most of the projects have been completed, or are about to be completed, and only the central railway is the last hard bone. But with the completion of the Dar es Salaam to Mbeya section, coastal steel can be transported to the front end by rail, and the central railway will be completed next year. There is no problem, except for the western section, the southern section can be completely opened from Lusaka to Bulawayo this year.”

There were many road construction workers immigrating this time, which greatly accelerated the construction of the East African railway. As the steel production capacity of the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone increased and various supporting factories were put into use, the cost of East African railway construction was greatly reduced.

"Ernst, as the amount of work is reduced and many slaves have entered a rest period, what should we do now? Continue to build the railway or do other projects?" Constantine asked.

"The railway can continue to be built, but the railway construction must be slowed down first, and we can first use the railway to promote immigration to the inland."

According to later generations, the East African Railway was a pure loss-making business. Although the interior of East Africa was not completely deserted, it was still sparse and pitiful.

So now that the railway is completed, the land along the railway can begin to be developed. Now we need to divert part of the population in eastern East Africa to the interior.

So Ernst said: "The land we previously occupied in the Kingdom of Malawi can now be developed on a large scale. With the help of the central railway, the immigrants and some eastern residents will be mixed and sent to the South Salzburg Province."

The Kingdom of Malawi is located on the west bank of Lake Malawi. It was divided between East Africa and Mozambique a few years ago. Malawi was called Nyasaland by the British in its previous life. It is rich in tobacco, coffee, tea, cotton, sugar cane and other crops. Annual precipitation ranges from 1000 mm to 1500 mm.

It also has various mineral deposits such as rare earths, titanium ore, bauxite, uranium ore, emery, pyrite, limestone, coal, graphite, gemstones, gold and diamonds.

East Africa occupies most of the land of the Kingdom of Malawi, mainly the northern and central districts of the former Republic of Malawi (Malawi has three districts in total). The northern district is mainly mountainous, the central district is plateau, and the southern district is dominated by plateaus. and lowlands mainly.

The Central Plateau region is the focus of development in East Africa, connecting it with the Luangwa River Basin.

"In terms of railways, this year we are planning a southern railway starting from Mtwara Port and going directly to the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone to solve the traffic problems in New Württemberg Province."

The transportation in New Württemberg Province can be divided into three categories. One is sea transportation, namely Mtwara Port, and the other is highway, which is the main form of transportation used by former Haihu Province and now New Württemberg Province to connect cities in the province. The third is river transportation, mainly relying on the Rufuma River.

New Württemberg Province has excellent transportation, and the western part is part of the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone (the rest belongs to South Salzburg Province)

However, there is a huge shortcoming in the transportation of New Württemberg Province, that is, the seaport of Mtwara and the Rufuma River are not connected. Mtwara is a separate bay port, which makes the cargo of New Württemberg Province One more on-the-road transfer procedure is required.

“The southern railway should not coincide with the Rufuma River, but should be further north to better radiate the inland areas. To do so, Mtwara’s location is somewhat south, so I plan to build it northwest of Mtwara A new port will be built in the bay more than 160 kilometers away to serve as the starting point of the southern railway."

The bay Ernst was talking about was Kiluwa Masoko Port in Tanzania in its previous life. It was also an important seaport in Tanzania. Now it doesn’t even have a name. Kilwa Masoko might as well be renamed Soko Port!

"Let's call this place Soko. Geographically, Soko Port is more towards the Central Province. It is located right between the Rufiji River and the Rufuma River. The inland is just blank. If a railway is developed, it will be a good choice for New Württemberg. It will be beneficial to the development of the province.”

The economic center of the New Württemberg Province is in the south, first in the Lower Maritime District, and then in the Sea-Lago Province. They are all developed close to the Rufuma River, so the New Württemberg Province has inherited this characteristic.

This makes the area between Central Province and New Württemberg Province extremely empty, without even a decent city. Agriculture is developing well, but inconvenient transportation is also a big problem, and the processing and export of agricultural products are very inconvenient.

If the Southern Railway passes through here, it can solve this problem and at the same time open up a direct transportation line from the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone to the ocean.

The Lake Malawi Industrial Zone is currently divided into two parts, one on the north shore, centered on Mbeya City, and the other on the east shore, centered on Songea.

Songea was formerly the capital of the East African colonial Lake Malawi region. It is now the heavy industry center of New Württemberg Province, and the terminus of the southern railway is the city of Songea.

The cities in East Africa are actually the same concept as the prefecture-level cities in the East in the previous life. Unlike European cities, they belong to local administrations. Therefore, the scope of Songea City extends to Lake Malawi, and the end of the railway is also in Malawi. lake.

Ernst continued: “In addition to the Southern Railway, the Central Railway also has supporting branch line projects. It branches from Dodoma City, passes through Mbeya City on the coast of the Great Lakes Region, and finally reaches Bujumbura in Western Great Lakes Province. , so that we can form a relatively rudimentary railway network in East Africa."

It is said to be a branch line, but in fact Ernst still plans to build it according to the standards of the central railway main line.

(schematic diagram)

If these two railways are built, another thousand kilometers long, the total mileage of East African railways will reach more than seven thousand kilometers.

It can also be seen from the map that the East African Railway has achieved linkage with Lake Malawi, Lake Solon (Tanganyika) and the Great Lakes (Victoria). With the help of these three natural lakes, transportation in East Africa has directly opened up Rendu Er pulse.

Building railways in East Africa is indeed more troublesome than the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Any railway is more than 500 kilometers long, but this kind of happy troubles cannot be enjoyed by a country without a huge territory.