Chapter 1355 - 358: Railway Superpower (3)

Chapter 1355: Chapter 358: Railway Superpower (3)

Although this is not beneficial for the East African Government and other countries worldwide in industrial competition, as exploitation and deprivation can lower production costs, it plays a significant role in the stability of East African society.

This is also one of the main reasons why Ernst turns a blind eye to the Russian Labor Party; as long as the national power establishment of the Russian Labor Party is completed, it will inevitably force other imperialists to improve their country’s workers’ welfare and treatment.

This way, East Africa will not fall into a precarious situation. After all, from a factual standpoint, the human rights issues of other imperialist countries today form a kind of "malicious competition" against East African industries.

This is similar to the previous Era, where Europe and America played the human rights card to limit other countries’ industrial development. However, under the current consensus of the International Community, East Africa clearly cannot be the trailblazer, becoming the traitor among imperialist countries.

East Africa’s efforts to make other imperialist countries improve worker treatment and raise their labor costs would likely only invite criticism and ridicule. Therefore, only the Soviet Union acting as this villain is the best approach.

As long as the Soviet Union exports its ideology, other imperialists at that time can only follow the policies currently enforced by East Africa.

In truth, East Africa is now caught in a very awkward position. On one hand, workers’ treatment is higher than other imperialist countries, leading to high industrial development costs; on the other hand, East Africa’s social system does not allow East Africa to encourage and export its economic development model, thus dragging other imperialist peers down.

The ability of East Africa, at its current stage, to maintain social stability and healthy economic development is essentially influenced by post-war economic conditions. Under wartime situations, most imperialist countries, except Japan, have turned to war economies, thus freeing up and creating large markets. This is the fundamental reason for East Africa’s current good economic condition.

However, war will inevitably come to an end, and East Africa cannot perpetually maintain this gameplay to develop its economy.

The solution is clear but rather difficult: continue to increase productivity, develop high-end industries, thereby reducing the impact of labor costs on the economy.

The railway electrification currently driven by the Ministry of Railways is the embodiment of this strategy in the transportation field.

Wells continued, "Compared to other countries, our country’s railway transportation development faces disadvantage due to high labor costs, so the Ministry of Railways actively promotes the research and development of railway engineering equipment. Simultaneously, through integration and optimization of resources, it aims to reduce costs in other areas, thereby offsetting the disadvantage in labor costs."

"At present, the Empire’s railway utilization efficiency is at a leading advantage among the world’s major industrial nations, ensuring against waste and overcapacity issues in railway construction."

The railway utilization efficiency in East Africa is higher than the average level of the world’s major industrial countries. Railway utilization efficiency is closely related not only to management but also to railway construction density.

For example, the Far East Empire’s railway utilization efficiency is considered high among world countries, but this is not due to the advanced railway construction in the Far East Empire. Rather, it is precisely because railway construction in the Far East Empire is relatively backward, unable to meet railway transportation demands.

A counterexample is the United States. The United States has the longest railway mileage globally, but many repetitively constructed railways result in a lower railway utilization rate, supply exceeding demand in railway transportation.

The reason behind this result firstly lies in the fact that American railways are a kind of "financial product". Nationwide, various regions blindly followed trends to invest and construct railways to drive up stock prices. Also, because of the financial attribute of railways, speculators have built quite a few unfinished projects, making the actual American railway mileage data "inflated".

Secondly, there are numerous American railway companies with non-uniform standards and lacking effective management, leading to massive waste of railway capacity. For instance, different railway companies have different ticket prices, causing a price war and resulting in most American railway companies operating at a loss. Or, because railway construction standards are not unified, different railway companies might require changing locomotives or recruiting different railway workers for connections.

The railway issues in some European countries are even more serious than in the United States, primarily due to the excessive concentration of railways in certain European countries.

Although Europe’s total railway mileage reaches over 300,000 kilometers, almost comparable to East Africa, Europe consists of many countries, some with very high railway density and others with very low railway density, especially between Eastern Europe and Western Europe, Southern Europe and Northern Europe, the differences are noticeable.

In terms of railway density alone, Germany’s railway density is more than four times that of East Africa, and the United States’ railway density is close to double that of East Africa, while East Africa’s railway density is nearly six times that of Russia.

This explains the railway gap between countries. In fact, the current East Africa railway is more than three times the railway of the previous Era Soviet Union. The Soviet Union in the previous Era was not active in railway construction, only expanding more than double that of the Tsarist Russia Era. This is one reason why Soviet railway utilization efficiency could reach world-leading status.

From Ernst’s perspective, the railway mileage of the previous Era Soviet Union was significantly low; after all, the Soviet Union relied on railways far more than East Africa. Of course, it is unknown how the Soviet Union’s railway will develop in this lifetime.

At present, 310,000 kilometers of railway in East Africa has reached a peak value, neither more nor less. Additionally, apart from mainline railways distributed fairly evenly, East African railways primarily concentrate in the mid-southern region, with substantial freight and passenger traffic.

East Africa’s future railway construction direction will merely involve continual repairs and maintenance on what is already the world’s most developed and efficient railway network. From this perspective, East Africa has become a railway power rather than simply a railway giant.