African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 465 - 143 East Africa Railway Network
Time quickly moved to 1875. The new population policy in East Africa indeed aroused some public dissent, but overall it was still acceptable.
Even though the government reduced expenditures in this area, the cost of childbirth in East Africa remained the lowest in the world. East Africa couldn’t implement a one-size-fits-all approach; thus, the current childbirth subsidies still existed but only covered three births. Beyond that, people had to rely on self-sufficiency.
In 1875, the section of the Central Railway from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya was basically completed, the Northern Railway was fully completed, the small Rhine River reconstruction project reached eighty percent completion, and the Central Canal was thoroughly completed.
The small Rhine River reconstruction project was in no way simpler than building the canal; its workload even surpassed the canal project. The small Rhine River project wasn’t merely focused on the small Rhine but also considered the overall river changes within the entire basin and the East African farmland irrigation system, while also factoring in hydrological conditions. Especially during flood season, the work was challenging due to frequent rainstorms and the turbulent river delaying progress.
However, after the transformation of the small Rhine River’s lower and middle reaches, it finally started resembling European rivers, altering its natural shape from centuries past.
New Hamburg Port was also completed, and now, with New Hamburg City and Mbeya City as starting points, the Central Railway’s southern lines were both under construction, greatly accelerating the building speed of the Central Railway.
"Most of the projects are either completed or about to be completed, leaving only this last tough nut with the Central Railway. But with the completion of the Dar es Salaam to Mbeya segment, coastal steel can be transported by rail to the front, ensuring the Central Railway’s completion next year is feasible. Aside from the western segment, the southern segment will be fully opened this year, connecting Lusaka to Bulawayo."
This migration included many railroad workers, greatly speeding up the railway construction in East Africa. With the increased steel production capacity in the Malawi Lake industrial area and various supporting factories in operation, the construction costs of East African railways were significantly reduced.
"Ernst, with construction volume decreasing, many slaves are entering a rest period. What should we do now? Continue building railways or work on other projects?" Constantine asked.
"Railway construction can continue, but for now, we should slow it down a bit. Let’s first use the railway to advance migration inland."
The East African railway, as future generations might say, is purely a loss-making venture. Though East Africa’s interior is not completely uninhabited, it is sparsely populated.
So, with the railway now completed, the land along the railway line can begin development. Now, we need to divert some of the population from eastern East Africa to the interior.
Ernst said, "The land we occupied from the Kingdom of Malawi can now be developed on a large scale. Utilizing the Central Railway, we should first mix migrants with some Eastern residents and send them to South Salzburg Province."
The territory of the Kingdom of Malawi was on the western shore of Lake Malawi but was divided between East Africa and Mozambique years ago. In a previous era, the British called Malawi Nyasaland, and it was rich in tobacco, coffee, tea, cotton, sugarcane, and other crops, with annual rainfall between 1000mm and 1500mm.
It also possesses various mineral resources such as rare earths, titanium sands, bauxite, uranium sands, diamonds, pyrite, limestone, coal, graphite, as well as gems, gold, and diamonds.
East Africa has occupied most of the Kingdom of Malawi’s land, primarily including what was the Northern District and Central District of the Republic of Malawi (Malawi has three districts). The Northern District is mostly mountainous, the Central District is plateau, while the Southern District is mostly plateau and lowlands.
The Central Plateau region is the focal point for East African development, aiming to connect with the Luangwa River basin.
"Regarding railways, this year we’ll plan a southern railway starting from Mtwara Port, directly reaching the southern part of the Malawi Lake industrial area to address transportation issues in the new Württemberg Province."
Transportation in the new Württemberg Province can be divided into three categories: sea transport, specifically Mtwara Port; road transport, used by the former Sea Lake Province, now the new Württemberg Province, to connect cities within the province; and river transport, mainly relying on the Lufuma River.
Transportation in the new Württemberg Province is very comprehensive, and the western part belongs to a portion of the Malawi Lake industrial area (the remaining part belongs to South Salzburg Province).
However, the transportation in the new Württemberg Province suffers a major drawback, as the sea port Mtwara and the Lufuma River are not connected. Mtwara is a standalone bay port, necessitating additional road transfer procedures for the freight of the new Württemberg Province.
"The southern railway shouldn’t coincide with the Lufuma River; it should lean more northward to better radiate inland areas. Since Mtwara’s position is somewhat south, I plan to build a new port in a bay 160 kilometers northwest of Mtwara, serving as the starting point for the southern railway."
The bay mentioned by Ernst was what was historically known as Kilwa Masoko Port in Tanzania, a significant sea port in Tanzania. Now, without a name, whatever Kilwa Masoko, let’s rename it to Soko Port!
"For now, call it Soko. Soko Port is geographically closer to the Central Province, located right between the Rufiji River and Lufuma River, where the interior is just a blank slate. If a railway is developed, it’d greatly benefit the development of the new Württemberg Province."
The economic focus of the new Württemberg Province is in the south, first at the Coastal District, then the Sea Lake Province, all along the Lufuma River line, so the new Württemberg Province has inherited this characteristic.
This has left the intermediate area between the Central Province and new Württemberg Province very empty, without even a single decent city. Although agricultural development is good, inconvenient transportation is a big problem, making agricultural product processing and exporting quite difficult.
If the southern railway goes through here, it can resolve this issue effectively, while also establishing a direct transportation line between the Malawi Lake industrial area and the ocean.
The current Malawi Lake industrial area is divided into two parts: one is the north shore centered around Mbeya City, and the other is the east shore centered around Songea.
Songea used to be the capital of East Africa’s East Malawi Lake area in the colonial times, now it is the heavy industry center of the new Württemberg Province, and the end point of the southern railway is Songea City.
In reality, East African cities are essentially the same concept as prefecture-level cities in Oriental history, and are quite different from European cities, belonging to a local administrative office. Therefore, Songea City extends all the way to Lake Malawi, and the railway’s endpoint is right at Lake Malawi.
Ernst continued, "Aside from the southern railway, the Central Railway also has supporting branch line projects, splitting from Dodoma City with a branch through the Great Lakes Region coast towards Mbeya City, finally reaching Bujumbura in the West Great Lake Province. This way, we can form a basic railway network in East Africa."
Though referred to as a branch line, Ernst still plans to construct it to Central Railway main line standards.
(Diagram)
If these two railways were built, another thousand kilometers would be added, bringing the total mileage of East African railways to over seven thousand kilometers. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
The map reveals how East African railways have facilitated interaction between Lake Malawi, Soron Lake (Tanganyika), and the Great Lake (Victoria), using these three natural lakes to seamlessly connect East African transportation networks.
Building railways in East Africa is indeed more challenging than in Austria-Hungary, as even a simple railway here ends up surpassing five hundred kilometers. But this kind of blissful challenge is something that nations without vast territories cannot enjoy.
