The first thousand five hundred and forty-two chapters carry forward the national prestige of the Ta
Li Xuan was very interested in Xu Chenbing's urban railway plan.
With the expansion of Shanghai's urban area, the population is increasing, and people's travel and transportation of goods require strong transportation capabilities to support it.
In later generations, this kind of short-distance transportation was generally solved by cars.
But these days, it is unrealistic to expect cars to be available in a short time. Even if they are developed, the transportation cost will be very high. Therefore, in a short period of time, horse-drawn carriages, especially rail-based horse-drawn carriages, will still be the main force of public transportation within the city.
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But if the distance is too far, carriage alone won't work.
The urban area of Shanghai is getting larger and larger. The distance between north and south is tens of kilometers, and in the future, the distance between east and west will be more than ten or twenty kilometers.
However, the transportation volume of this kind of rail carriage is still relatively small, and the cost is not low. At this time, Xu Chenbing can use trains to solve the mid-way transportation of 20 to 30 kilometers. In Li Xuan's view, it is still very feasible.
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Before, he had talked with officials from the Department of Railways and the Department of Transportation. Although the cost of building a railway is high, if this kind of mid-way railway is used, transportation will definitely be very frequent, so the cost recovery is certain, and the cost of maintaining operations is
It's not too expensive, at least it's much cheaper than riding a horse-drawn carriage.
And more importantly, this urban railway, also known as the light rail in later generations, can effectively solve the contemporary long-distance transportation problem in urban areas.
If urban railways can be built in Shanghai, the current problem of insufficient land resources along the river in Shanghai will be solved instantly, because there is a large amount of land available for development in the western part of Shanghai.
At the same time, it can also be directly connected to the Jiangnan railway network to provide more convenient transportation, which will be crucial for the development of industry and commerce.
Urban railway has such great benefits, and at the same time, there are not many technical problems, and the cost is acceptable, so there is no reason not to do it.
The railway network of the Tang Empire has been in operation for several years now. It has been eight years since the Jingzhen section of the Jiangnan Railway was first opened to traffic in the 19th year of Xuanping. The related technologies of train transportation have been greatly developed.
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Many major defects of early trains have now been basically found and solved one by one during actual use.
Although on the surface the trains of the 27th year of Xuanping do not seem to have changed much from the trains of the 19th year of Xuanping, they are actually the product of two eras.
The early steam locomotives and carriages produced at that time have basically withdrawn from front-line operations and have been replaced by the latest locomotives and carriages.
The power of today's steam trains has been greatly improved, and the carriages have also changed from the early wooden carriages of different specifications to the second-generation passenger carriages with almost uniform specifications, and the railway tracks have also become uniform.
Rails.
The earliest original steam locomotives operating on the Beijing-Zhenzhen Railway weighed only about five tons and were able to pull about 20 tons of carriages. Of course, these earliest locomotives were not actually put into operation and were only used as experimental products.
However, continuous improvements were made to these original steam trains to increase power and stability, and finally the current series of steam locomotives and train carriages appeared.
Most of the trains currently running on the Jiangnan Railway and other main railway lines are second-generation trains jointly developed by relevant factories affiliated to Datang Railway Corporation and scientific research institutions such as universities.
Among them, steam locomotives include low-end models with low operating costs, specialized in short-distance transportation tasks, and not very high horsepower, then there are standard models that specialize in long-distance transportation tasks, and heavy-duty models that specialize in transporting overweight cargo, etc.
Normally, a standard second-generation steam train can pull sixteen second-generation steel passenger carriages and run stably at a speed of forty kilometers per hour. And the most important thing is that they don't have to run as fast as before.
They need to stop every ten kilometers to add coal and water, but they can run more than a hundred kilometers in one go to add coal and water.
Basically, you can go directly from Jinling City to Zhenjiang without stopping to add coal and water.
As for freight, it depends on the weight of the cargo, but generally speaking, a standard second-generation heavy-duty steam locomotive can pull up twelve train sets fully loaded with coal and run at a speed of about 35 kilometers per hour.
The second generation of steel carriages also imitates passenger ships and is divided into multi-class carriages and prices to meet the travel needs of people at different levels.
The third-class carriages among them are naturally designed to meet the travel needs of the working people. The fares for third-class hard seats are enough for ordinary farmers to afford them. If it is a long-distance trip, you can also choose third-class hard seats. Although the fare is expensive
Some, but also very expensive.
The second-class carriages are used to meet the travel needs of middle-class people. These people are more respectable and naturally do not want to be squeezed into the third-class carriages with those mud-legged people. However, if you want to be decent, you have to pay a high price.
The fare for a second-class carriage is often several times more than that for a third-class carriage.
As for the first-class carriage, needless to say, it is specially designed for the rich and powerful. The price is extremely expensive. The ticket price of the first-class carriage from Jinling City to Shanghai has reached more than 300 yuan, which is not affordable for even the rich.
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However, although it is expensive, the services provided are equivalent. A comfortable and luxurious riding environment is a must, and the first-class carriages are often at the end of the list, so there is no need to worry about the coal dust. In addition, a
Butler service will be provided while waiting for the carriage, and all kinds of food and drinks are available.
It is worth noting that in fact, what really makes money for Datang Railway Company is not these first-class carriages, but the second-class and third-class carriages, because although the first-class carriages are expensive, the rich and powerful people who ride them are
There are still not many rich people. In addition, more dignitaries and rich people in the contemporary era, if they have a choice, would prefer to take a large and comfortable luxury liner instead of a rumbling and noisy train.
Of course, more wealthy people generally have their own private passenger ships. For example, the Chen Lifu family owns a luxury passenger ship with a displacement of more than 300 tons. Family members usually travel to Shanghai or other places.
They all take their own private luxury liner and never take any public luxury liner or train.
Therefore, first-class carriages are not very profitable. The real money is in second-class carriages and third-class carriages, because compared to the rich and powerful, ordinary people are more willing to choose convenient, fast and cheap train travel instead of comparing
Troublesome passenger ship.
After so many years of development, the Tang Empire’s transportation methods, especially medium and long-distance transportation, have basically been dominated by trains and passenger ships. Only in places where railways or even passenger ships cannot go, the most primitive transportation methods will be used.
Horse-drawn carriages were used as long-distance transportation.
The train technology of the Tang Empire has made great progress, and now there is no big problem if it is used inside the city.
In fact, although the term urban railway is relatively new, in fact many places already have such short-distance urban railways. For example, in major port cities, there are generally complex railways between the docks and warehouse areas.
The rail transportation system generally does not use steam engines, but horse-drawn carriages.
In mining areas, trains are more common. In fact, the trains of the Tang Empire were first developed in mining areas.
In those days, mining areas took the lead in using rail carriages to transport coal, iron ore and other mineral products. When early trains were not yet available for large-scale commercial operation, major mining areas actually used steam trains to replace horses for transportation.
Minerals.
It can be said that major mining areas are at the forefront when it comes to train applications.
Urban railways, or light rails, are actually just short-distance railways. There is not much difference in whether they transport goods or people.
When walking out of the train station, Li Xuan and Xu Chenbing briefly chatted about the railway in the city in these few minutes. Although it was just a simple chat, Xu Chenbing was still greatly encouraged.
The Holy Emperor was able to talk to him about this matter because the Holy Emperor was interested in this matter and even supported it.
In this way, he felt relieved.
He was already preparing to lead people to make a detailed urban railway plan soon, trying to finalize this matter before the Holy Emperor left Shanghai.
There is no need for formal approval, just a good word from the Holy Emperor, and he can immediately mobilize all forces, start construction within one month, complete the preliminary construction within three months, and put it into operation within half a year.
operation, laying a transportation foundation for the development of the west part of the city.
Xu Chenbing planned to make a quick decision, and the most important thing was to get the approval of the Holy Emperor. As for the construction and technology, there were actually no problems.
In terms of trains, Datang Railway Corporation has sufficient technology to complete construction and subsequent operations. As long as the funds are in place, there will be no problem in completing the construction and putting into operation of an urban railway network of only dozens of kilometers within half a year.
But it’s not easy to get the funds in place!
Although it does not cost much to lay and operate the railway, after all, it is just a railway on the ground, and it is not a subway that requires digging tunnels.
However the real cost comes from the cost of land!
Shanghai is the largest industrial and commercial city in the empire. Every inch of land in the city is precious. To build a railway line in the city, a lot of land needs to be occupied. Even if a considerable part of it is state-owned assets, state-owned assets are still money.
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For example, the Shanghai Terminal Company owns a large amount of land along the river. Although it belongs to the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises, if you want the land they have, you have to pay real money to buy it.
However, Shanghai has a lot of money, and if it really wants to be ruthless enough to build this railway, it will naturally be able to come up with the funds to acquire the land for construction.
However, Xu Chenbing, even the magistrate of a special county in Shanghai, could not accomplish such a huge investment without the approval of the capital city.
Xu Chenbing had his own little thoughts, but Li Xuan had already forgotten about Xu Chenbing and his urban railway. Although the development of industrial and commercial economy was important, at this moment, none of it was important.
The important thing is to show off!
No, it should be about carrying forward the prestige of the Tang Dynasty!