"Not only is there a huge difficulty in building the railway, but we are also facing a shortage of funds." Before the stationmaster could answer, a loud voice sounded outside the door. Jiang Nanqi looked up, but saw the dark-skinned Peng Zhicheng striding in.

"What a terrible weather!" While walking, Peng Zhicheng sighed: "The rain was not so heavy when I went out in the morning, and when I was at the entrance just now, the water level of the river rose sharply, fortunately, there are many wetlands nearby, and the water storage capacity is strong, so this unexpected spring flood should not cause any big impact, otherwise it will be troublesome." Hehe, Xiao Jiang, you're here to deal with the case, right? Those Klandians are only one breath left in prison, and you probably won't have to be tried if you come a few days later. ”

"We have a big problem with our prison system." Jiang Nanqi sighed unsurprisingly and said, "I can imagine that the foremen must have been making trouble outside, and then the local patrol police violently abused those prisoners awaiting trial in order to appease them. Forget it, don't talk about these disappointing things, Superintendent Peng, you just said that the funds are insufficient, what's going on? Didn't the state invest a lot of manpower and material resources in the railway? Is there still a big funding gap today? ”

"Of course, it's very big, and now the cost of building a section of the railway, all kinds of expenses add up, and you can't get seven or eight thousand yuan per kilometer. Especially in the inland areas under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Reclamation Bureau, where birds don't poop, the cost per kilometer is close to 10,000, which is still the cost after a large number of Klandi slave laborers, and the early price is even more terrifying. Peng Zhicheng took out a wine jug from his waist, opened the lid and took a sip, then sighed comfortably. Cai said: "The cost of 150 kilometers of the early Luomei Line railway is very amazing. Even with the mobilization of a large number of free laborers (new immigrants, students at Fort Corps, government employees, military personnel, etc.). The cost per kilometer also exceeded 8,000 yuan. You must know that those cast iron tracks at that time did not count the money, and Ping An Iron and Steel Plant has not yet begun to implement the so-called market-oriented business policy, so it costs 8,000 yuan a kilometer, and there is no reason! If it were to be changed to now, I wouldn't be able to get it without 15,000 yuan a kilometer! ”

"It's a staggering expense, is it really necessary for our country to spend so much money on these railways right now?" Hearing that the infrastructure investment was so huge, Jiang Nanqi was also a little startled. The Hejin-Chengshan section of the Northwest Railway is more than 100 kilometers, and it will not cost at least 800,000 yuan! Can the state finances afford it?

Peng Zhicheng seemed to have seen through Jiang Nanqi's thoughts. Therefore, without waiting for him to speak, he continued to explain: "Fortunately, a considerable part of the costs, such as the cost of materials such as railroad tracks and some sleepers (except those imported from New China), are paid to state-owned enterprises, and the money is equivalent to the left hand to the right hand; In addition, even some other expenses are basically spent in the country, the meat is rotten in the pot, and there is no large outflow of funds, so the problem is not very big, and this is the reason why the Executive Committee dares 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 Rome Line Railway has also given the Executive Committee considerable confidence in the construction of such a strategic transportation artery as the Northwest Railway. It is cost-effective in both political and economic senses. Peng Zhicheng continued to explain, "In 48 years, the profit of the Luomei line reached 28,000 yuan. Dividend per share was more than 2%. The main reason for this success is that the Romay Line has implemented a new tariff standard since the beginning of last year, and the profitability is very exciting, so the government's willingness to build a railway is still quite strong. ”

Peng Zhicheng said that the Luomei Line Railway implements new rates, including both passenger and freight aspects. In terms of passenger transport, differential fares have been introduced, i.e. seats are divided into four classes: first, second, third and non-seated tickets. Among them, the first-class ticket costs 3.8 cents per kilometer, the second-class ticket costs 1.7 cents per kilometer, the third-class ticket costs 1.1 cents per kilometer, and the non-seat ticket costs 0.5 cents per kilometer.

For ordinary people, the first-class fare of about 5.7 yuan from Meilin Port to Luoqia Port is simply incredible, even if there is no seat ticket, it will cost 0.75 yuan, which is completely unattractive for ordinary workers and farmers on the east coast whose net monthly income is generally between 6 and 7 yuan. Even if you have to travel long distances, you are more likely to squeeze into the smelly offshore/inland steamboats – even though the prices are just as tight and cheap.

According to last year's figures, the annual passenger traffic of the Luomei Line was 15,120 passengers, including immigrants (paid by the Ministry of Civil Affairs), passengers, businessmen, and all kinds of people, with an annual passenger income of 13,600 yuan, an average of 58.2 kilometers per person, and an average income of 1.54 cents per kilometer (the revised income after removing unconventional operating expenses such as training fees).

Compared with passenger transport, the performance of freight is truly impressive. In the whole year of 1648, the Luomei Line Railway transported a total of 24,900 tons of various types of cargo, with a total income of 40,400 yuan, an average distance of 114.3 kilometers per ton of cargo, and an average income of 1.42 cents per ton of cargo per kilometer (also a revised income after deducting non-routine operating expenses such as training fees).

Of course, the current operating costs of the Luomei line are too high, and it bears a lot of policy losses (such as training a large number of overstaff, testing various new technologies, rebuilding some stations, and compensating for land acquisition along the way), so the government has to give it a certain amount of financial subsidies every year. These subsidies, together with the total revenue of about 54,000 yuan from passengers and freight, can make the total profit of the Luomei Line Railway reach 28,000 yuan for the whole year, otherwise it will still be a loss-making situation.

However, after analyzing the operation of the Romei line, the discerning people can basically confirm that this company is very promising for investment, and its revenue will be higher and higher in the next few years, and the main growth point will fall on freight transportation. This railway connects the coastal areas of Meilin, Dongfang and Luoqia counties, and at the same time, Zhenhai County, Xihu County and Ping'an County in the north also carry out railroad intermodal transportation with the Guò Duck Lake-Milin Lake water system, which can be called a golden route, so that all investors are eager to invest all their family property into it.

However, the General Administration of Railways obviously will not let such a piece of fat fall into someone else's bowl. What are you kidding, we are not brain-dead, the financial situation of this railway is so good, why should we sell our equity? Is it difficult to divide up state-owned assets? At the beginning of January this year, the General Administration of Railways has formally established a company to operate all 150 kilometers of the Luomei Line, and the company, which is named the Central Railway Company (hereinafter referred to as "China Railway"), will focus on the transportation business of the Luomei Line, and at the same time gradually invest the profits into another department of the company, the Railway Telegraph Section, and begin to accelerate the research and development of the cable telegraph, which has made some progress, and strive to put it into commercial operation as much as possible, making it another major profit growth point of the company.

At present, the achievements of the Institute of Electricity of the Academy of Natural Sciences are limited to some simple things such as electrical measuring instruments (handmade products) and dry batteries, and even the insulation problem of wires can only be solved by paint (can only adapt to the low-voltage environment), and there is still a considerable distance from coming up with mature products. Therefore, if the central railway company wants to make more profits, it is better to put more attention on the bank, that is, to find ways to increase the number of freight trains and reduce the cost of railway maintenance and operation, which is the king.

At present, the freight rates implemented by the company are also quite cheap, but at the moment when the water transport force is not enough, the fast and reliable railway is beginning to be favored by more and more people. The Luomei Line Railway transports almost everything, 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 can be pulled from Meilin County to Luoqia County in more than 4 hours, which is simply a miracle in this era.

In the case of the Central Railways, different rates are of course applied to different cargoes. For example, the largest transport of goods and grains (Luoqia Port is the only grain export port of the Republic of China on the east coast of China), potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, peanuts, sesame and other miscellaneous grains are positioned as first-class commodities, and the transportation fee per ton per kilometer is 1.25 cents; corn, sorghum, and soybeans are C-class commodities, and the transportation fee per ton per kilometer is 1.88 cents; wheat and rice are second-class commodities, and the transportation fee per ton per kilometer is 2.5 cents; and flour and milled rice are first-class commodities, and the transportation fee per ton per kilometer is up to 3 cents. In addition, the SAT reserves the right to adjust transport rates in response to rising prices.

"The East Coast rail system, after all these years of continuous investment, is now finally seeing some money and hope of making a profit, which makes everyone happy." Peng Zhicheng sat in the middle of the room, near a freshly lit fire, and said: "Only when the railway itself has a certain hematopoietic capacity, and then the profits from the operation are continuously invested in the research and development of new technologies and the construction of new railways, can our country's railway industry be more prosperous." I am glad to see that our country is now on the right path. The population and economy along the Northwest Railway are not as good as those of the Luome Line in the coastal areas, but with the arrival of new immigrants and the deepening of the development of inland areas, the railway will sooner or later become profitable, and I have never had the slightest doubt about this! And this is also the reason why I am old, but I am still running around outside, 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 industrialization! ”

Jiang Nanqi looked at the old soldier who was waving his arms and talking and laughing loudly, and suddenly felt that he was not so hateful. Maybe the people in the military are acting more aggressively, but that doesn't mean they're all perverse bastards. In fact, everyone is just different in philosophy, and at the level of better development of the country, everyone's interests are undoubtedly the same. (To be continued......)