Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 733 Northwest Railway ([-])

"The construction of the railway is not only facing the huge difficulty of insufficient labor force, but also the dilemma of insufficient funds." Before the station master could answer, a loud voice sounded outside the door.Jiang Nanqi looked up, only to see the dark-skinned Peng Zhicheng striding in.

"It's terrible weather!" Peng Zhicheng sighed as he walked, "It didn't rain so hard when we went out in the morning. The water level of the river rose very much at the transition just now. Fortunately, there are many wetlands nearby with strong water storage capacity, so This unexpected spring flood should not cause any major impact, otherwise it will be troublesome. Hehe, Xiao Jiang, are you here to deal with the case? Those Kelandi people have only one breath left in prison , if you come a few days later, you probably won't need to be interrogated."

"There are big problems in our prison system." Jiang Nanqi also sighed unsurprisingly, and said, "I can imagine that the gang of foremen must be making trouble outside, and then the local patrol police violently abused them to appease them." Forget those prisoners waiting to be tried. Forget it, let’s not talk about these disappointing things, Supervisor Peng, you just said that the funds are insufficient, what’s going on? Didn’t the country invest a lot of manpower and material resources in the railway? There is still a huge funding gap ?”

"Of course it's very big. Nowadays, to build a section of railway, all kinds of costs can be added up, and every kilometer can't afford 8000 yuan. Especially in the inland areas like the Northwest Reclamation Bureau's jurisdiction, the cost per kilometer is so high. It’s ten thousand, but this is still the cost after extensive use of Kelandi slave labor, and the early price is even more scary.” Peng Zhicheng took out a flagon from his waist, opened the lid, took a sip, and sighed comfortably Then he said: "The cost of the 150-kilometer construction of the early Luomei Line Railway was astonishing. Even if a large number of free laborers (new immigrants, Bingtuanbao students, government employees, soldiers, etc.) were mobilized, the cost per kilometer exceeded 8000 yuan. You must know that those cast iron tracks didn’t count for money at that time, and Ping’an Iron and Steel Works hadn’t started to implement the so-called market-oriented operation policy, so it cost 8000 yuan per kilometer. It’s impossible to get it for one kilometer!”

"It's an astonishing expense. Is it really necessary for our country to spend so much money to build these railways?" Hearing that the investment in infrastructure was so huge, Jiang Nanqi was a little shocked.The Hejin-Chengshan section of the Northwest Railway is more than 80 kilometers long. Wouldn't that cost at least [-] yuan!Can the state finances afford it?

Peng Zhicheng seemed to have seen through Jiang Nanqi's thoughts, so he continued to explain without waiting for him to open his mouth: "Fortunately, a considerable part of the cost, such as railroad tracks, some sleepers (except those imported from Xinhua), etc. The money paid by the state-owned enterprises is equivalent to the left hand and the right hand; in addition, even some other expenses are basically spent within the country, the meat is rotten in the pot, and the funds have not flowed out in large quantities, so the problem is not very big, and this is also the implementation of the law. The reason why the committee dared to allocate a large amount of funds to the General Administration of Railways to continue to build the railway.”

"In addition, the successful operation of the Luomei Railway has also given the executive committee considerable confidence. Everyone believes that the construction of such a strategic traffic artery as the Northwest Railway is cost-effective both in terms of political and economic significance." Peng Zhicheng He continued to explain, "In 48, the profit of Luomei Line reached 8000 yuan, and the profit per share exceeded 2%. The main reason for such a big achievement is that Luomei Line has implemented a new fee policy since the beginning of last year. Rate standard, profitability is very exciting, so the willingness of the government to build railways is still quite strong.”

Peng Zhicheng said that the new rates for the Luomei Line Railway will be implemented, including both passenger and freight.In terms of passenger transport, differential fares have been implemented, that is, seats are divided into four classes: first, second and third class seats and no-seat tickets.Among them, the first-class ticket is 3.8 cents per kilometer, the second-class ticket is 1.7 cents per kilometer, the third-class ticket is 1.1 cents per kilometer, and the no-seat ticket is 0.5 cents per kilometer. It can be seen from this that the rate is not small. elevated.

For ordinary people, the first-class ticket price of about 5.7 yuan from Merlin Port to Rocha Port is simply unbelievable. Even if there is no seat ticket, it costs 0.75 yuan. For ordinary workers and farmers on the shore, this price is completely unattractive.Even if you have to travel long distances, everyone is more willing to squeeze those general-purpose small steamboats that are full of odors-although the price of the ticket is also very tight and cheating.

However, the facts have dispelled people’s doubts about the high price of the Luomei Line railway. According to last year’s data, the number of passenger trips on the Romei Line for the whole year was 15120, including immigrants (paid by the Ministry of Civil Affairs), tourists, and businessmen. , There are all kinds of people, the annual passenger income is 1.36 yuan, the average travel distance per person is 58.2 kilometers, and the average income per kilometer is 1.54 cents (revised income after removing unconventional operating expenses such as training fees).

Compared with passenger transport, the achievements of freight are really impressive. In the whole year of 1648, the Luomei Line Railway transported 2.49 tons of various goods in total, with a total income of 4.04 yuan, an average transportation distance of 114.3 kilometers per ton of goods, and an average income of 1.42 points per ton of goods per kilometer (also for removing training modified income after non-routine operating expenses such as fees).

Of course, the current operating cost of the Luomei Line is too high, and it bears a lot of policy losses (such as training a large number of over-provisioned employees, testing various new technologies, rebuilding some stations, compensating for land acquisition along the way, etc.), so the government has to pay for it every year. It provides a certain amount of financial subsidies.These subsidies plus the passenger and freight revenue totaling about 5.4 yuan, the total annual profit of the Luomei Railway can reach 2.8 yuan, otherwise it will still be a loss-making situation.

However, anyone with a discerning eye can basically confirm that this company has great investment prospects after analyzing the operation status of the Rome line.This railway connects the three counties of Meilin, Dongfang and Luocha in the coastal area. At the same time, Zhenhai County, Xihu County, and Pingan County in the north also carry out rail-river transport through the Duck Lake-Milin Lake water system, which can be called a golden line. Let all investors wish to invest all their property in it.

But the General Administration of Railways obviously won't let such a piece of fat fall into other people's bowls.Are you kidding, we are not stupid, the financial situation of this railway is so good, why should we sell the equity?Is it possible to carve up state assets?At the beginning of January this year, the General Administration of Railways officially established a company to operate the entire 1-kilometer section of the Luomei Line. This company, named the Central Railway Company ("China Railway"), will focus on the transportation business of the Luomei Line. At the same time, the profits will be gradually invested in another department of the company, the Railway Telegraph Division, and it will start to accelerate the research and development of the cable telegraph that has made some progress, and strive to put it into commercial operation as soon as possible, making it another major company of the company. Profit growth.

However, there is no such thing as wired telegraphy. At present, the achievements of the Institute of Electrical Sciences of the Academy of Natural Sciences are limited to some simple gadgets such as electrical measuring instruments (handmade products), dry batteries, etc. Even the insulation problem of wires can only be solved by varnish. Adapt to the low-voltage environment), there is still a long way to go to produce mature products.Therefore, if the Central Railway Company wants to obtain more profits, it is better to put more thoughts on the bank, that is, to find ways to increase the number of freight trains and reduce the cost of railway maintenance and operation. This is the kingly way.

At present, the freight rate implemented by the company is not cheap, but at the moment when the water transport capacity is seriously insufficient, the fast and reliable railway has begun to be favored by more and more people.The Luomei Line Railway transports almost everything, such as cured meat, salted fish, grains, soybeans, flour, coal, timber, building materials, steel, textiles, etc. A train can pull 72 tons of goods at a time, and it takes more than 4 hours to travel from Meilin The extension of the county to Luocha County is simply a miracle in this era.

For the Central Railway Company, different goods will of course carry out different transportation rates.For example, grain is the largest transport cargo (Luoqia Port is the only grain export port of the East Coast Republic of China), potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, peanuts, sesame and other miscellaneous grains are positioned as small commodities, and the transportation fee is 1.25 cents per ton per kilometer; corn sorghum Soybeans are Class C commodities, and the transportation fee per ton per kilometer is 1.88 cents; wheat and rice are Class B commodities, and the transportation fee is 2.5 cents per ton per kilometer; flour and polished rice are Class A commodities, and the transportation fee per ton per kilometer is The highest 3 cents.In addition, the State Administration of Railways reserves the right to adjust transportation rates due to rising prices.

"The railway system on the east bank, after years of continuous investment, has finally seen some return money and the hope of making a profit. This makes everyone very happy." Peng Zhicheng sat in the middle of the room, approaching a He warmed up the fire and said: "Only when the railway itself has a certain degree of hematopoietic ability, and then continuously invests the profits from the operation into the research and development of new technologies and the construction of new railways, can our country's railway industry flourish. I am very pleased to see Now, our country is on the right road. The population and economy along the Northwest Railway are not as good as the Rome Line Railway in the coastal area, but with the arrival of new immigrants and the deepening of the development of inland areas, this railway will sooner or later To be able to make a profit, I have never had the slightest doubt about this! And this is why I am still running around outside when I am old. I really want to see our country build a railway network extending in all directions , and then the whole country enters a deeper level of industrial development!"

Jiang Nanqi looked at the old army leader who was waving his arms and talking and laughing loudly, and suddenly felt that he was not so annoying anymore.Maybe the people in the military department are a bit aggressive, but that doesn't mean they're all perverse bastards.In fact, we just have different ideas. In terms of better development of the country, everyone's interests are undoubtedly the same.

(End of this chapter)