The first thousand three hundred and seventy-four chapters the opening of the Jingzhen Railway
After receiving the news that the second test was successful, Li Xuan also officially allowed the Jingzhen Railway to be opened to traffic when it is ready. If nothing else, he will be responsible for operating the Jingzhen Railway, and even the entire Jiangnan Railway in the future.
The railway company will work overtime and officially announce the Beijing-Zhenzhen Railway to be open to traffic and open to public operation on December 1.
At the same time, Li Xuan officially approved the construction plan of Jiangnan Head.
The construction of the Jiangnan Railway will follow the Beijing-Zhenzhen Railway, using the original mature construction team to carry out construction, and construction will be carried out in both east and west directions at the same time.
The required funds are all raised from loans and bonds issued. At present, Datang Railway Corporation has raised two million yuan for the Jiangnan Railway. Although this amount of money cannot be said to complete the Jiangnan Railway
It has been built, but there is no problem in meeting the initial construction requirements. As for the subsequent funding issues, it can be raised while building, and funds can also be raised through subsequent operating profits.
Today, the Beijing-Zhenzhen Railway has been completed, and profits will be obtained after commercial operation. These profits can naturally be invested in the construction of the Jiangnan Railway again.
In addition to officially approving the construction of the Jiangnan Railway, Li Xuan also approved numerous railway construction plans at the same time, including those from Tianjin to Tangshan, Tianjin to Youzhou, Guangzhou to Foshan, Guangzhou to Huizhou, Hangzhou to Ningbo and many other railway sections.
Most of these railway lines are part of the future main railway lines, and they are also sections suitable for early construction and where huge commercial profits can be obtained.
Today, Datang's strategy for building railways is to build sections first that are easy to build and can make money, such as the Jiangnan Railway.
Then go and do other things first!
Railways for military purposes are not within the scope of this plan. There are currently three railways listed for military purposes, one is the Northwest Railway, one is the Hetao Railway, and one is the Northeast Railway.
The Army attaches great importance to these three railways. The Army even stated that it would not only bear part of the construction costs, but also provide engineering troops to participate in the construction for free.
Originally, the Army planned to get rid of the Datang Railway Corporation and build its own military railways. In the end, it was discovered that building railways on its own was still unreliable. There were many problems in terms of funding and technology, and too many aspects were involved.
The Railway Corporation is also desperately opposed, saying that they have no objection to the army doing this in a military area, but you are building a military railway in the vast hinterland of the empire, and it is also a trunk line railway such as the Northwest Railway and the Northeast Railway. The Railway General Company
The company has an opinion.
What's more, the Holy Emperor Li Xuan doesn't support it very much. If the army builds military railways in specific areas for military services during war, it is okay. But in peacetime, it is necessary to build hundreds or thousands of kilometers of military railways in the hinterland of the empire.
Isn't this nonsense?
So after the resistance was met, the Army decided to provide money and effort to let the Railway Corporation build the Northwest and Hetao Railway and the Northeast Railway as soon as possible.
At present, these three railways are all railways with little commercial return and with military use greater than commercial use. Datang Railway Corporation still doesn’t want to build it, but the Army is pressing hard for convenience, and the Army has said it will be free of charge.
We have contributed money and effort, and we are even more committed to the fact that once the railway is opened to traffic, all materials will be transported by railway, and the transportation costs will not be small.
As a last resort, these three railways were included in the mid-term plan.
Entering late October, the railway construction of the Tang Empire can be said to be in full swing. Construction of the Jiangnan Railway has officially started. This will be a super large railway from Hangzhou to Jiujiang.
The railway from Jinling City to Kaifeng has also entered the final preparation stage. If nothing unexpected happens, the preliminary construction can start next year.
At the same time, other short-distance railways were also launched one after another, and because these short-distance railways are often potentially very profitable, the Railway Corporation even gave priority to the construction of these short-distance railways.
For example, the railway from Guangzhou to Foshan was just approved in late October, and preliminary construction started in early November. The same is true for the railway from Tangshan to Tianjin. In order to transport coal from Tangshan, this railway
Construction is faster, and you don't even have to worry about funding.
The railway has not yet started construction, but the Northern Coal Company came directly to the door and expressed its willingness to provide interest-free loans to the Northern Railway Company, a subsidiary of the Datang Railway Corporation, for the construction of the Tangshan Railway.
Because the Tangshan Railway ultimately serves the transportation of Tangshan's coal resources, and Tangshan's coal resources basically belong to the Northern Coal Company.
Coal companies are very rich. Doing coal business these days is basically a profitable business. The demand for coal in the market is almost endless. In the private market, countless briquettes are needed for cooking and boiling water, and countless factories need steam engines.
Coal as dye.
Nowadays, thermal coal needed for ships and trains is added.
To put it bluntly, as far as the current coal market is concerned, as long as you dig out the coal and transport it, you won't have to worry about not being able to sell it.
Therefore, not only the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises has invested in the three major coal companies, but also private capital has actively entered the coal market, but it has not yet become bigger.
In order to compete with several other domestic coal companies for the important coal market, Northern Coal Company engages in marketing activities every day in Shanghai and surrounding areas. It buys coal and sends it to coal stoves, and even companies order a certain amount of coal and send it directly to steam engines.
Everyone can do this kind of thing!
Nowadays, it is not impossible to lend money to a railway company to build a railway.
Unfortunately, this idea of the Northern Coal Company was quickly copied by the other two large coal companies. When the Southern Coal Company saw it, they borrowed money to build the railway. Yes, we will do the same!
Even other mining industries, such as the steel industry, think this kind of thing can be done. They lend money to railway companies and build railways from mining areas to ports. This kind of thing is not a loss no matter how you look at it. The transportation cost can be reduced by just a few percentage points.
It means you can save a lot of money.
What's more, this is borrowing money to build the railway, not giving money directly, and the most you will lose is interest.
And other railway companies also think it's a good deal. They don't have to pay a dime themselves, and they can directly use the borrowed money to build the railway from the mining area to the industrial area or to the port. Many of the loans are even interest-free, and no matter how bad it is, they are still at low interest rates.
That kind of thing.
After this is repaired, there is no need to worry about performance. The coal, iron ore, etc. have to be shipped out!
Someone comes to you with money to build a railway, and then gives you business to make money. How can you be dissatisfied with that?
The only pity they feel is that this kind of thing can only happen on railways in mining areas, and it is difficult for other industries to follow suit.
All walks of life are feeling the spring breeze of railway construction. In the Shanghai Stock Exchange Market, the stock prices of railway-related industries have been rising. Among them, as the largest rail provider in the country, the stock price of Jiangnan Iron and Steel Company has
After it officially announced that it had secured an order for 60% of the rails needed to build the Jiangnan Railway, its stock price reached a historic high.
Railway construction is such a big piece of meat that Jiangnan Railway Company cannot swallow. Other steel companies, cement companies, timber companies, coal companies and other industries related to railways have almost all experienced rising stock prices.
Only the magnitude of the increase is different.
On the 10th of Xuanping, the Jingzhen section of the Jiangnan Railway was officially opened to traffic. Because it had been widely publicized before, countless people walked into the train station to watch it on the day of its opening.
And a few lucky ones even bought tickets for the first train, and then boarded the train with surprise and curiosity.
On the day it opened to traffic, due to the large crowd of onlookers, Li Xuan, who was originally scheduled to attend the opening ceremony, did not go there in person for political reasons. Instead, he sent an angel as a representative.
The entire opening ceremony was like a drama. The Zhili Railway Company became an instant hit in order to open up the market. People will give priority to trains when traveling in the future, which also spent a lot of thought.
Finally, the first train emitted thick smoke and made a loud rumble. Under the sight of thousands of onlookers, it slowly started dragging eight passenger carriages, then left the platform and began to speed up.
Finally, its speed was stable at thirty kilometers per hour!
Being able to run thirty kilometers in an hour, and still being able to run continuously for several hours before needing to stop to add coal and water, this kind of speed is almost a miracle for today's generation.
As Qinhuaihe's oirans and young men who keep up with the development of the times and have always been at the forefront of the times, many people boarded this train. Among them, Qinhuaihe's popular oiran Yuqing got a job thanks to many connections.
I bought my ticket for the first train and boarded the train with a group of gentry and young men who were trying new things.
As a passenger who was lucky enough to ride the first commercially operated train in history and sit in the first-class cabin at the end of the train, Ms. Yuqing described her journey this way!
"When the train was moving at full speed, the feeling was indescribable. When I stood up and put my head out of the window, the strong wind that came in my face made it almost impossible to open my eyes.
And what's even more surprising is that it's not only fast, but also surprisingly smooth, which gives me a sense of security.
So even though the train was going very fast, I didn't have the slightest fear."
The first opening of the train was a complete success, and almost every passenger who rode the train was amazed, and most of them gave heartfelt praise.