Passenger rail transport in Themiclesia
Rail transport in Themiclesia originated in 1829 for shipping coal and now encompasses a large network of railways serving both passengers and freight. Inter-city railways grew with government support from 1853 and accompanied the Industrial Revolution to support long-distance commerce and modernizing manufacturing needs; these inter-city railways were bought by the government between 1892 and 1898 to prevent the laying of redundant railways, but private companies continued to operate trains on nationalized railways and branch lines. Improved revenues were taxed by the government to support expansion and maintenance of infrastructure. Urban railways and trams appeared the late 19th century. More recently, branch lines have seen development, and a high speed rail with speeds up to 300 km/h was introduced in 1967.
Despite a decline in ridership in the 1960s, the railway continues to be a principal means of both urban, suburban, and inter-city travel in Themiclesia. Inter-city transport is mainly offered by National Railway, a joint venture of public and private investment, but excursion trains are regularly operated by private companies. The railway accounts for nearly half of all inter-city freight by weight, but less by value as it is better suited to bulk goods in loose or containerized format.
History
Mining railways
The first railway in Themiclesia was laid down in 1831 by Asikainen, a Hallian company oeprating a coal mine in Predh. The company had relied on draft animals and barges to ship its products into the Meh but found a more profitable mine away some 16 km from the river, which a railway covered. The line was operated with a single locomotive, the Kaveli. The introduction of the railway made Asikainen more profitable than others relying on draft animals, and by 1840 no fewer than eight mining operations utilized railways in the Themiclesian north, where mining rights have been leased to Hallia through the Treaty of Kien-k'ang of 1796.
In 1844, a railway from Predh to Gra was opened, which allowed Hallian merchants to undercut coal from Themiclesian mines, transported by draft animals. This coal was not tariffed as it was not technically imported, but it became a political crisis at the lobby of Themiclesian coal mines and merchants, who argued that the Hallian miners were outselling domestic miners. In 1847, the government responded by awarding land to Themiclesian mines that they might lay their own lines, and a testing railway was laid down between Ngek and Kien-k'ang in 1849.
Private era
A royal commission was issued at the same time to study the effects of railways on foreign states, with the conclusion that an efficient transport system allowed more goods to be marketed domestically and would be an incentive to investment in businesses. The government also saw value in a railway system as a component of defence logistics, as troops could be moved around the country more rapidly and without requisitioning goods from the towns they passed through. As a result of the initially-good results of test railway and of the recommendations of the royal commission, the building of railways became the Rjai-ljang government's policy. New railways were constructed with government grants in land and backed by high-interest bonds sold to the government. In 1855, the first inter-city railway over 300 km opened between Kien-k'ang and Tor.
In 1854 and 1855, both Menghe and Dayashina agreed to elimiate trade barriers with foreign states, with the result that the trinity of Themiclesian exports—porcelains, tea, and silks—now faced stern competition. Themiclesian exporters became uncompetitive at Casaterran markets, triggering the Depression of 1857, which rippled to railway bonds as the first railways struggled to generate sufficient revenue to cover interest rates. Facing dwindling customs revenue, the Rjai-ljang government diverted its money to stimulate other industries and could not continue to support the building of railways. The first wave of railway-building thus came to a sudden halt in 1858.
Themiclesian industry regained some footing in the early 1860s. Indeed, some exports were so astonishingly successful that a trade war began in Camia over Themiclesian goods, triggering the Battle of Liang of 1867. Themiclesia's defeat resulted in the lifting of tariffs on Camian and Maverican grains. The importation of cheap grains caused a severe depression in agriculture, forcing landlords to evict tenants who then flocked to the cities in search for work, in turn depressing labour prices and supporting the growth of manufacturing businesses. However, new railways were built to transport grain from docks to the cities that experienced population boom, and manufacturing businesses also relied on railways to source raw materials from the countryside. These factors promoted a second, largely privately-funded drive to build railways in the 1870s.
The only railways that received government funding in this era were ones connecting mining towns in the northeast to the Themiclesian heartland, as distances were too long for private investment to cover; additionally, the government welcomed the establishment of businesses in the distant countryside, as it was seen to ward away territorial claims by other powers. In this respect, the Great Northeastern Railway was completed in 1884, extending over 2,200 km to reach ′An from Rak. In these, the government took an interest in tariffing goods shipped but did not interfere with their operations.
In terms of railway operators, the operator and coachbuilder Lower Themiclesia Railroad (LTRR) achieved renown for its sleeper coaches that debuted in 1871 but national dominance after the nationalization of major railways. Through services from Kien-k'ang to Sngrak and later to ′An required multiple-day travelling times that spanned several days in the 1880s, when trains travelled about 25 mph on average, though speeds up to 40 mph were possible on superior tracks. LTRR also accrued considerable profit from exporting its exquisitely-appointed rolling stock, nicknamed "palace cars" on foreign railways; to accomplish this, it employed dozens of artisans, some from manufacturers of porcelains and luxury fabrics. Though these exports were successful, it soon sparked competition, most notably in Tír Glas and adjoining states, and the domestic market remained its main source of revenue.
Regulated era
By 1890, revenue mileage of main and branch lines in Themiclesia reached 11,520 km. Railroad had been largely an unregulated business, as it was assumed that the demands for goods would guide them towards building efficient lines. But signs of financial difficulties appeared in 1888 when the National Trunk Railway between Kien-k'ang and Lrjeng failed to earn profits as anticipated, largely because another railway already served the nearby city of Gra and a third Ngrakw. These existing railways took advantage of a link line and competed with the National Trunk by cutting prices or providing rebates. By 1891, the National Trunk was bankrupt, having taken millions from investors and failing to provide a single dividend; the government was called upon to save the National Trunk. The purchase, challenged in Parliament, resulted in a general survey of railways to determine whether the causes underlying National Trunk's bankruptcy were common.
In 1892, a new law was passed forbidding the building of "railways in close proximity" while the government undertook to purchase the failing National Trunk by issuing bonds in expectation of extending the road to Loi and then Sn′ji. From 1892 to 1895, the government purchased a large number of failing railroads and worked to extend their lines to different areas in the hopes that more freight would be diverted through them and generate revenue. The acquired lines were transferred to a new corporation called the National Railway Company, which was funded through both stocks and bonds and acquired the staff and assets of the struggling roads it superseded. The roads that were not acquired were permitted to use the NRC's lines for a fee. Though this purchase programme was not financially rewarding in its initial years, revenues increased in the 1900s that more railway bonds were sold, enabling the government to purchase controlling stakes in the majority of long-distance railways.
Many private railroads understood this government policy as an attempt to drive them out of business, though the new railway had the considerable advantage of providing through service that had not existed before, particularly through the Central Junction Railway of Kien-k'ang. The Public Railway Act was passed in 1893, requiring the National Railway Company (NRC) to provide passenger services on all its lines in both directions, every day, and three classes of service on inter-city railways. To compete with the NRC, the Northwestern Railway was formed by the merger of four shorter roads in 1898, and the Maritime Railway in 1899. These two roads each underwent internal restructuring to abolish parallel lines and achieved considerable economies. The Northwestern Railway merged with the the Great Northern Railway to form Themiclesian Railway in 1898, while National purchased Maritime Railway to form the National and Maritime Railway in 1902.
By 1906, the process of consolidation had created two major railways—Themiclesian, and National & Maritime. In 1903, the Government acquired the power to decide what was a "railway in close proximity", though one decision would be equally applicable to both railroads. Under these conditions, five more direct railways were built between 1903 and 1923, as the law did not prohibit the building of more efficient lines that connected cities; indeed, the building of railways accelerated in this period as the law all but guaranteed that, once one company was in control of one route, the other was shut out of it. On the other hand, the two operators owned largely-parallel railways on the Rak–Sn'i–Rap–Tubh–L′in corridor and both had routes into the capital city of Kien-k'ang.
In the first decade of the 20th century, both Rak and Kien-k'ang began construction of urban rail transit. These railways had both above-ground and underground sections and required the co-operation of the city to complete railways in densely-populated areas, and a large number of evictions occurred in both cities. The development of urban railways had a profound influence on demographics in both cities, making longer commutes practical and, in the long term, encouraged suburbanization. These railways also competed with horse-drawn omnibusses and electric tramways. Unlike inter-city railways, urban railways were largely unregulated by the national government and fell under the purview of city councils. In this wise, the councils, controlled by the wealthier classes, usually objected to the laying of lines into or across elite neighbourhoods to reinforce segregation amongst classes.
Wartime
After the imposition of national mobilization to repulse the Menghean and Dayashinese invasion, inter-city railways were nationalized in 1937 to support the war effort. Themiclesian Railways and National & Maritime continued to be operators on the nationalized rail network, but government trains took priority, and rolling stock from both entities were regularly commandeered by the government. From 1936 to 1938, Menghean forces utilized forced labour, largely of prisoners-of-war of Casaterran descent, to construct a railway from Menghe to Themiclesia, through Dzhungestan, to ease a logistics bottleneck that had barred further deployment. Occasioning thousands of fatalities, the railway was called the "railway of death" by survivors of its construction. By the end of 1940, it is estimated that over 60% of intercity railways were under enemy control, though a number of key points such as sheds and bridges were demolished prior to their capture, and locomotives and rolling stock had been evacuated as much as practical.
During the war, the railway networks of both operators suffered considerable damage, some self-imposed. In 1947, the two railways merged to form the National & Maritime & Themiclesian & Northwest Railways but operated under the trade name of National Rail. This new corporation operated under Parliamentary charter and was required to re-invest a portion of profits into maintenance, employee welfare, and fare reductions before dividends could be paid to shareholders; to stimulate investment, the government reimbursed dividends paid to it as the major shareholder for the first 40 years of its operation. To compensate for damages to its infrastructure, the armed forces were ordered to transfer the industrial spurs it had constructed to National Rail.
Postwar
To expedite the export of Themiclesian goods to Maverica and Menghe, the Trans-Hemithean Railway was completed in 1952 with the support of all three governments. A train could travel from Kien-k'ang to Sunju in 79 hours on this route, outpacing shipping by days. Despite its principal use as a freight railway, passenger service was also provided on this road, though it soon faced stern competition from airliners. National Rail ran its premier train on the THR until its closure in 1959 due to Communist revolution in Maverica.
The earlier years of the post-war period were dedicated to the restoration of the railway, with steam adhesion assumed to remain indefinitely; however, by 1953, this policy came under attack by some directors on National Rail's board. It has been asserted that diesel locomotives, though not more powerful individually, were more efficient and required less maintenance. Such a change, however, was contested by workers' unions, who argued that the abolition of steam power would result in redundancies. Thus, the propagation of diesel power would proceed incrementally, from the main lines to branch lines, where steam locomotives remained in operation until 1971. Even though diesel was accepted by National Rail in 1955, experimentation on more efficient steam locomotives continued until the 70s, and new ones were ordered as late as 1959. Steam power was withdrawn from main lines in 1961.
Despite economies achieved by dieselization in the 50s, railways faced competition from air and road voyage, especially after the opening of Themiclesia's first controlled-access highway in 1949. This prompted a desire for higher speed that existing lines were considered incapable of providing due to routing issues. National Rail, in co-operation with its analogue in Dayashina, tabled a plan for an electrified main line that would support speeds not then obtainable on conventional railways. As proposed in 1957, this system was to be the sole electrified line in Themiclesia, since diesel was envisioned as the principal means of adhesion on other lines. As a parallel railway, the plan received sanction from Parliament in 1959, and work began in 1961. There was rumoured an informal competition between Dayashina and Themiclesia to realize their respective plans for high-speed rail, though Dayashina was to best Themiclesia by more than three years.
The first high-speed electrified line in Themiclesia opened in late 1967 after numerous delays and were capable of supporting speeds up to 230 km/h (140 mph). The expansion of the high-speed railway was continued after the first line, as a fixed portion of revenues from the high-speed service funded further construction. At the same time, the 24,525-kilometer network was subject to pruning in order to conserve expenditures. These cuts would eventually lead to the abandonment or sale of a quarter of that network by 1983. Sale of land occupied by railways became an important source of revenues for National Rail, but there were concerns that it was an unsustainable source.
Standards
Units
The standard system of measurement on Themiclesian railways, for internal purposes, are Imperial units from Anglia, as much of the infrastructure and rolling stock on the earliest domestically-built railways were imported from Anglia. The descriptor "Imperial" (rendered phonetically as 音卑羅, rf ′im-pê-rjar) is added to the corresponding Themiclesian unit. However, to anticipate unexpected changes by Anglia, which have not yet happened, Imperial units in Themiclesian trading were retroactively frozen by a domestic statute to their definitions on Jan. 1, 1870. Some old lines, once under Hallian operation, had their sign-posts changed from Hallian units to Imperial ones by 1896. However, in support of the Government's desire to promote the Metric system, that system has been in use for public trade since 1957.
Track gauge
The modern standard gauge on Themiclesia railways is 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm), this gauge having been established in 1851 by the Rjai-ljang Government. On the other hand, several lines in the north were built for a 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge. While it was unlawful to re-gauge any railway already in standard gauge to a different gauge, the last 5-foot gauge line was converted to standard gauge in 1894. This restriction is only present on main lines and branches connected to main lines: railways in mines, farmland, factories, and private homes shorter than 5 miles measured from its most distant points, may be constructed in any gauge, and special dispensation could be obtained for longer railways that do not provide public service. 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), 2 ft 6 in (762 mm), and 2 ft (610 mm) gauge are also found in Themiclesia, with 2 ft 6 in gauge most common in forest railway and 2 ft in mine railway. Some narrow-gauge railways have been converted as tourist attractions. The 3 ft 6 in gauge is used in Kien-k'ang and Tor as part of their suburban light rail system.
Loading gauge
Old gauge
Prior to 1891, there was no standard loading gauge; the gauge on each private railway was decided by the narrowest point on its route. However, for goods wagons, it was commonly accepted that a normal width which would pass through most lines was 9 ft. The expansion of railways, however, encouraged proprietors to unify gauges across their entire network, so that a single wagon could run without the need to unload and reload. The old gauge was formalized only after the new gauge (below) became standard in the 1890s and was defined by a 9 ft (274 cm) and 12 ft 6 in (381 cm) envelope; while few lines were built to these specifications, they were chosen for their universality. It is still seen on some branch lines currently, though periodic efforts have been made to upgrade them to the new gauge.
New gauge
When the Central Junction Railway was built, half of which was underground, dimensions of 10 ft 6 in (320 cm) wide by 14 ft (427 cm) tall were specified to accommodate as many operators' coaches as possible, some of which were in excess of 10 ft (305 cm) wide. This decision was meant to encourage railways to connect services through the Central Junction, which both allowed the government to collect a fee and reduced wagon traffic, a major source of complaints, in Kien-k'ang. Between 1897 and 1910, most main lines owned by both National & Maritime and Themiclesian & Northwest were converted to the new gauge. Though generous by 1890s standards, the 7-mile tunnel under Kien-k'ang would by 1950 become the most restrictive point on the Inland Main Line, and widening them would require nothing less than rebuilding the entire tunnel and demolishing everything since built above it. This loading gauge is called the "new gauge" (新規) and remains standard on main lines today.
Over-tall gauge
The over-tall gauge originated in the 1920s after efforts were made to divert freight traffic from termini in major cities, as freight could travel more efficiently while avoiding busy areas that are also more likely to have permanent structures that restrict gauge. Benefiting from benign geography, several lines were converted to accommodate boxcars as much as 16 ft 6 in (503 cm) by 11 ft 6 in (351 cm), which in turn encouraged locomotive manufacturers to provide taller and longer locomotives. Despite this, the over-tall gauge was not widespread in Themiclesia, and some were (effectively) converted back to new gauge in the 70s by way of electrification. Non-electrified lines in this gauge are mainly found in the Themiclesian east, where lines are generally single-track and have few factors which impose restrictions, like bridges and tunnels; on these lines, where services are less frequent, the ability to carry more goods per train was also valued.
Electric gauge
The electric gauge was developed jointly with Dayashina for high-speed passenger service.