African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1270 Subway
East Africa is large and faces both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The distance from Rhine City to the east and west coasts is almost the same, which makes Rhine City the best choice. Originally, the first town was indeed beneficial to East Africa's control over the Indian Ocean, but in recent years, East Africa's influence in the Atlantic Ocean has also expanded rapidly.

Especially in East Africa's trade with Europe today, cities along the Atlantic coast have an absolute advantage. The only sea route for trade between the East Coast and Europe is the Suez Canal, but this canal was restricted by Britain and France during the war.

If it were in peacetime, the Suez Canal would have an advantage over the Atlantic route, but now it is a wartime period, and the Suez Canal happens not to be controlled by East Africa.

The British controlled the Suez Canal, which was an important reason why Alexei and his two companions chose to reach East Africa from the Black Sea in southern Russia. Their safety could be guaranteed as the two countries were allies after all.

Prince Maxim said: "Once you are ready, you can go to the Serengeti Reserve. In fact, I have never been to the Serengeti grassland since I was a child."

"Why?" asked Tsarevich Alexei.

Maxim replied: "There is no particular reason. East Africa is very big and there are many places I have not been to. Not only that, but also overseas. For example, it is very easy for you in Europe to go abroad, but the only countries I have been to so far are East Africa and the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

"East Africa is a relatively remote place after all. It is not as easy to communicate with each other as it is in Europe."

In fact, there is one more thing Maxim didn’t say, which is that it is easy to cause conflicts. After all, the more countries there are, the more conflicts there are.

After visiting the Foix River Dam, the four of them wandered around the southeast industrial zone of Rhine City. There were many people in the industrial zone during the day.

However, this place is obviously not as prosperous as the city center. This industrial zone has only been built for a few years. On the contrary, the Northwest Industrial Zone was basically started and built at the same time as the railway hub, and it has already formed a scale.

The Southeast Industrial Zone also opened the eyes of the three people from Russia. There were mostly trucks here, and there were many vehicles providing transportation services for the factories.

Although Alexei had seen some industrial parks in Russia, there were none like those in East Africa, and the difference between the two was huge.

The industrial parks in East Africa are clearly carefully planned, which makes them quite neat and well managed.

Maxim introduced: "In many countries, the distribution of cities and industries is naturally formed. However, in East Africa, it is different. We focus on systematic planning, taking into account many factors, which also facilitates the management of industries by cities."

"Gathering these large industrial enterprises in one area will be conducive to the rational allocation of resources such as water, electricity, and transportation."

"At the same time, it can reduce the interference of residents' lives on production activities. In order to facilitate citizens' participation in production activities, we have established a relatively developed public transportation system."

"The most important of these is the bus line. Of course, according to the Rhine City's plan, a subway line will be built in the future to further enhance connectivity between cities."

“This was taken into consideration when the industrial zone was designed, and relevant land was reserved for the construction of the station later.”

"In this way, within five years, there will be four subway lines in Rhine City, forming a preliminary network. Rhine City is not large in scale, so four subway lines can fully meet the current demand for underground rail transit in Rhine City."

What Maxim meant by "small scale" was mainly referring to the big cities in Europe, which are generally the capitals of various countries, or important economic cities, with a population of at least one million.

For example, Russia's two major cities, St. Petersburg and Moscow, both have populations close to two million. Other countries, especially major European countries, have capitals with populations of over one million. The highest of these is London, England, with a population of nearly seven million.

Compared with these cities, the capital of East Africa, Rhine City, is not really a big city, and Dar es Salaam and Mombasa in East Africa have a population of just over one million each. Rhine City has a population of over 600,000, and there are already three subway lines built, which is quite outrageous in the Far East Empire in the previous life, equivalent to three subway lines built in one county.

Of course, the population target of Rhine City is to reach three million this century, and given its administrative status as a capital, the number of subways currently under construction is large but is within the expectations of the East African government.

The three subway lines in Rhine City have already surprised Alexi and the other two.

Alexey said: "St. Petersburg has a much larger population than Rhine City, but currently there is not a single subway."

The late 19th century to early 20th century was a period of booming subway construction. For example, the first subways in East Africa, France, Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and other countries were almost all built during this period.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire and East Africa were similar, both opening subways in the 1900s, while France and Germany started operating at the beginning of this century, with the Paris Metro beginning operations in 1902 and the Berlin Metro beginning operations in .

Russia currently does not have a subway line. Among the world's major powers, only Russia, Spain and Japan do not have a subway.

However, among the three countries, Spain is expected to separate itself from the powerful countries without subways ahead of schedule. There is already news that Madrid will build a subway.

In the past, the construction of Madrid’s first subway took place during World War I, and it began operation in 1919. After all, Spain basically played a supporting role in World War I.

Subways seem to have become standard equipment for the world's major powers. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Greece's first subway, which was completed in 1904.

Greece is neither strong, nor big, nor rich, so its economy is much better than those countries in backward regions or colonies.

Maxim said: "You don't need to care too much about the subway. Its main function is to solve the problem of urban traffic congestion and provide convenient services. None of the subways in Rhine City are profitable. Moreover, the traffic in Rhine City is not congested. Instead, it is a bit flashy."

That being said, Ernst's main factors in building the subway in East Africa included national defense, experience accumulation and other issues.

Needless to say, as for national defense, the subway is a natural underground shelter. Especially after the emergence of new combat weapons such as airplanes, the inland city of Rhineland may also be threatened from the sky in the future. Although the probability is so small that it can be almost ignored, Ernst never jokes about his own safety.

As for experience accumulation, it is also easy to understand. After all, subway is also an industry. Early development will help East Africa accumulate relevant experience. Currently, East Africa is one of the few countries in the world that can independently build subways.

Prince Maxim's consolation obviously did not work. The young and energetic Alexei said: "After I succeed to the throne, I will also build a subway in St. Petersburg so that St. Petersburg can catch up with the pace of modernization of other major capitals."

Nicholas II had only one son, Alexei, so what Alexei said was not only not outrageous, but reasonable. If nothing unexpected happened, he would become the next Tsar of Russia. Prince Maxim also thought so.

Prince Maxim said: "Then I wish you good luck in the future. Maybe you can really lead Russia out of its current predicament and promote the improvement of Russia's economic and industrial strength."

The construction of the Moscow Metro was in the Soviet era, and the construction of the St. Petersburg Metro had to wait until around the 21s. Even in the st century, there are only five subway lines in St. Petersburg.

Moreover, they were all built by the Soviet Union, so Alexei's dream may never be realized. At least that's what Ernst thinks at the moment. After all, Ernst is 100% sure that the current Russian regime may collapse at any time. Even without the Soviet Union, only a capitalist government can come to power.

(End of this chapter)