Transport in Zhenia

The National Expressway System provides nationwide expressway coverage throughout Zhenia.

The Zhenia National Express (ZNX), operating since 1974, is one of the largest high-speed rail networks in the world.

With over 100 million passengers each year, Daedo Capital International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world.

Transport in Zhenia is primarily facilitated by road, rail, air and waterways (canals and rivers). Most intercity and long-distance travel happens through road, rail or air; short-distance travels are dominated by road and rail. Cargo transport within Zhenia happens through rail, road, boat, pipeline and air in descending order. Zhenia is well-known for one of the longest and most complex railroad networks in the world, connecting almost all of the nation while also expanding to nearby states. Zhenia has a hierarchy of roads spread throughout the nation, covering the majority of the nation. Zhenia, being home to the largest aviation industry in the world, has numerous regional and international airports, with the most notable being the Daedo Capital International Airport and Shin Jinhae International Airport. Transport within Zhenia across all modes of transportation is almost completely mechanized and, in the case of rail, electrified.

Road Transportation

Motor vehicles

Road remains one of the most commonly used means of transport for Zhenians, handling roughly 42% of all traffic nationwide: in 2019, 45.5% of all passenger movement and 21% of cargo transport within the nation occurred through road transport. 87% of all households in the nation have at least one car, while 40% own two or more. Driving in Zhenia is on the right.

Expressway system

Main article: National Expressway (Zhenia)

The National Expressway (Zhenia) and the Zhenia National Road systems together compose one of the most extensive controlled-access highway networks in the world. All National Expressways and National Highway roads are owned and maintained by the Zhenia Expressway Corporation, while some smaller-volume roads were built through civilian investment and are contracted for civilian operation for a 30-year period. With its plans laid out before the Second Great War and much of the construction done during the Third Republic, the National Expressway system links all province-level districts and nearly all major cities to the rest of the nation. Comprising of over 200,000 kilometers upon the completion of its Third Phase in 2010, the National Expressway system is often linked with one another directly or through branch roads under the Zhenia National Road System.

Unlike the Zhenia National Road system, almost all segments of the National Expressway are toll roads, with vehicles using the expressway charged proportionate to their travel distance.

Road passenger transport

Since its introduction in late 2006, electric buses now account for over 70% of Daedo's local bus network.

Bus services, both local and intercity, are very commonplace in the nation, with local buses mostly covering prefecture-level areas and intercity coach services offering coverage to most parts of the nation. While many local buses are operated by private enterprises with local government subsidies, some services in major cities, such as Daedo, Hansan and Shinhang, see city-wide bus services operated by public enterprises or directly by the prefecture-level government. While bus rates are proportionate to the distance traveled by the same ticket, discounts to select user groups, such as students and the elderly. Most local bus services do not charge for transfers within 90 minutes of debarkation from the previous bus, although select express bus and bus rapid transit services in some cities operate under a separate fare system. Z Transit, a nationwide, RFID-based transportation card system, has been implemented for usage in any of the nation's bus services, both local and intercity, since 2006. In accordance to the nation's 'Green Transport' policies since 2005, many provincial and local governments are promoting the implementation of electric and other 'zero-emission' buses in their transport networks, aiming to have 70% of local buses in the nation to be electric by 2030.

Intercity bus services are separated into two services depending on their stops and operating conditions - intercity and express coach. Intercity buses take more stops than their express counterparts and do not need to cover over 60% of their travel distance by expressway, while express coaches additionally need to cover a distance greater than 100 km and need to operate at least 60% of their travel distance via expressway. Unlike local bus services, both intercity and express coach services, with the exception of some remote, rural areas in western and northern Zhenia, are operated primarily by the private sector, competing in thousands of routes across the nation. While somewhat unpopular compared to intercity rail in long-distance journeys due to long travel times and the introduction of the ZNX, most intercity and express coach services have recently focused on providing relatively short-to-mid-distance transport as alternatives to existing intercity and ZNX train services.

Rail

Rail remains one of the most commonly-used means of transport, with Zhenia's railways carrying over 2.1 trillion tonne-kilometers of freight and around 556.3 billion passenger-kilometers in 2015. Zhenia is home to strong rail infrastructure, with the first railroads dating back to the Empire of Zhenia. Being home to over 105,144 km of tracks as of 2015, Zhenia is home to one of the largest rail networks in the nation, almost all of which is owned and maintained by ZhenRail and its subsidiaries. Around 82.5% of the nation's rail network is electrified and almost all of its network double-tracked as of 2015, although the percentage of electrification is set to increase to 90.4% by 2025.

Intercity rail

Although it has declined in usage since the late 20th century following the establishment of the National Road and National Expressway systems as well as the introduction of passenger air services across the nation, rail remains one of the most commonly-used modes of intercity passenger transport. Intercity rail services provide high coverage in most parts of the nation, with all province-level administrative divisions and cities with a population of over 500,000 seeing passenger rail services at least once a day.

High-speed rail

Main article: Zhenia National Express

The Zhenia National Express is the nation's primary high-speed rail service, as well as one of the first dedicated high-speed rail services in the world. Commencing service in 1974, it has received extensive funding and support from the government, consisting of over 20,000 kilometers of tracks and transporting over 1.5 billion passengers each year. Primarily connecting the nation's population centers both inland and along the Golden Arc region. Due to prioritization of high-speed rail transport in signalling and traffic due to ZhenRail's ownership over almost all passenger tracks in Zhenia, ZNX trains are well-known for their punctuality, with 99.2% of all ZNX services arriving and departing no later than 5 minutes on average. ZNX technology has also been attempted for international export several times, successfully exporting its technology to Toloria and Educandi.

The first ZNX services commenced operations between Daedo and Changan in 1974, reducing the travel time between the two cities from the previous 7 hours and 58 minutes with conventional rail service to around 4 hours and 25 minutes. Service in several other dedicated high-speed lines followed suit, further reducing travel times between the nation's major cities by rail. Further developments to introduce faster Maglev trains into high-demand routes, such as the Daedo-Changan route or those along the Golden Arc region, are underway, with initial operation expected to commence in 2025.

Urban rail

A total of 32 cities across the nation operate their own rapid transit services, while an additional 58 operate their own light rail or tram transit lines of any form in urban areas. The Daedo Metropolitan Subway, the oldest and largest urban rail transit system in the nation, is also one of the world's largest both by ridership and by length.

Air

The Zhenian aviation industry is one of the largest in the world, with almost 1 billion passengers flying on domestic or international routes as of 2019. With 361 airports officially in operation within the nation, Zhenia is one of the most connected nations in the world, flying to all six major continents via direct flight. Although there are numerous smaller airfields scattered across the nation, only 361 are officially recognized as airports by the Ministry of Transportation. The nation's major international gateways are Daedo Capital International Airport (Daedo), Shin Jinhae International Airport (Jinhae and the Taimir River Delta area) and the Changan International Airport (Changan); other major traffic hubs in the nation include Ariul International Airport, Kim Shimin International Airport outside Dongdo and Shinhang International Airport.

Although there are three full-service carriers (FSC) and 13 low-cost carriers (LCC) operating in the nation, the nation's official flag carrier remains to be Zhenian Airways, a full-service carrier that formerly a nationalized airline until 1998. It is one of the few airlines in the world offering flights all six continents, with 360 destinations over 85 nations.

Ports and shipping

Located in the eastern seaboard of Tarsis, Zhenia is a major seafaring nation, being home to one of the world's largest shipbuilding industries and some of the world's busiest ports by cargo loading.