African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 703 Trams and power development opportunities in East Africa

As the first "powerful country" in Africa, the specific manifestation is naturally the state of social development. Although the social system in East Africa seems to be a "mess", the overall social style is basically in sync with the entire era.

 City of Dar es Salaam.

Dar es Salaam has always ranked first in East Africa's economy and is the largest comprehensive city in East Africa. Many data are among the best, so many new things will appear in Dar es Salaam.

 In 1887, the first tram in East Africa also officially started operation in Dar es Salaam, which attracted the attention of the citizens of Dar es Salaam.

 As early as 1881, German engineer Werner von Siemens laid the first tram track in the suburbs of Berlin, establishing the world's first tram prototype.

In fact, Siemens began to study trams in 1870. In 1879, Siemens had a prototype at the Berlin World Exposition. As a peer, the Berlin Electric Company was naturally unwilling to lag behind, and in 1875 it joined forces with the Hechingen Energy Power Company to start the design. Streetcar.

 In 1883, it successfully launched its own tram model. In 1885, the East African government planned to build tram lines in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.

It was not until 1887 that the first tram in East Africa was finally operated in Dar es Salaam. At the same time, Dar es Salaam converted the tram line into an electrified tram line, becoming the first in the world. The tram system put into commercial operation (original history is the United States in 1888).

Of course, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had trial-operated the first tram line in Sarajevo before this. However, due to technical shortcomings, Sarajevo’s tram still needed horses to provide part of the power, so it was not really considered a real tram line. A successful tram in the sense of the word.

"In 1807, the world's first passenger rail bus pulled by a horse-drawn carriage appeared in the United Kingdom, and was promoted in many European cities. Trams were developed on this basis using motors as a power source. New rail transit vehicles are part of urban public transportation.”

In contrast, Siemens was not so successful in Germany. Back in 1880, Siemens, which was preparing for a big move, planned to build an elevated electric urban rail railway in Berlin. However, this move was firmly opposed by local residents. Because local residents believe that building an elevated railway will devalue real estate.

At present, the mainstream public transportation in the city is still the public carriage, but there is no doubt that the tram will replace the public carriage and become the new favorite of urban rail transportation. The craziest thing in this regard is the Americans in the previous life, who built more than 70,000 Kilometers of tram lines are longer than the railways in many countries.

"In order to ensure the passage of London, thousands of horses operate every day, which also puts huge pressure on the health problems of London. Of course, this is also a common problem in many cities, and the same is true for our city of Dar es Salaam. A large amount of feces and urine is a nightmare for cleaners, so more environmentally friendly trams will play a huge role in improving the urban living environment."

East Africa does not have this problem. First of all, the East African government has a greater say, which provides a solid foundation for the popularization of trams. At the same time, East African roads have long reserved space for trams, so the transformation will not have any impact on East Africa. Road traffic is causing too much trouble, and besides, there is no idea of ​​building elevated highways in East Africa.

As a country that has invested heavily in the electric power sector, East Africa naturally attaches great importance to important new products in the electric power and transportation industries such as trams.

At present, the Dar es Salaam tram factory has been put into production, and the entire city’s tram lines have been completely renovated to cover the two main urban areas.

“I thought this tram track was an urban railway track before, and I didn’t expect it to run like this. But can this tram really run?” a citizen asked.

 Intra-city railways are not uncommon in this era. For example, many train stations in London and New York are built in the city. This is based on economic interests, just like stations in East Africa are generally built in suburbs. For the citizens of Dar es Salaam who are accustomed to seeing new things, the tram is still beyond their imagination. According to the official statement, the tram is powered by cables suspended from the sky.

To this end, electric poles have been erected in the green belt of the middle road in Dar es Salaam to provide a source of power.

“I can’t afford a car, but the tram fare is extremely cheap. You can definitely give it a try. And many people have never taken a train, so they can use it as a substitute for the experience!”

Many new railways have been built in East Africa, but very few people have taken the railway. Trams can make up for this shortcoming to a certain extent, and their prices are very affordable. According to the salary level in Dar es Salaam, it is completely Affordable.

 In an era when buses and taxis did not appear, trams were the best choice. Even in the 21st century, trams are a regular urban transportation mode between buses and light rail.

In Ernst’s view, the development potential of trams is relatively huge, and even in the future, they will not become outdated.

There are two main reasons why trams were phased out in large numbers in various countries in the middle of the 20th century. One was the emergence of automobiles, and there was no so-called energy crisis in the early stages of automobile development. Therefore, according to people's thinking at the time, trams were completely However, cars are easy to use. One reason is that in the 1930s and 1940s, the world war turned the entire Europe into a scorched earth, and rail transit maintenance was more troublesome.

·Later, under the general trend of energy crisis, environmental protection concept and urban transportation development, trams were "revived" again in Europe and the Far Eastern Empire.

Trams should actually be a type of “light rail” and can even be related to high-speed rail. Therefore, the development of trams definitely has more advantages than disadvantages for technology accumulation.

East Africa is a country with relatively “scarce” energy, mainly oil resources. Therefore, it is necessary for East Africa to replace some fossil energy with electricity.

 At present, East Africa is developing multi-polar power supply issues. In addition to the high threshold for nuclear energy, thermal power, wind power, hydropower, and even solar energy and tidal energy are all key projects in East Africa.

 This is also Ernst’s direction for the development of the electric power sector in East Africa. At the same time, Tesla’s AC power is also being trial-operated in East Africa, especially long-distance power transmission projects, which pave the way for the electrification development in East Africa.

 Thermal power is supported by southern coal mines and is the current mainstream power generation model, while hydropower is a key research project. The hydropower resources in East Africa are among the best in the world and are the most important breakthrough point in the direction of power supply.

Especially in the western Congo Basin, the water volume is large, the drop is large, and the flow is stable throughout the year (second only to the Sahara Desert). If it can be developed, it can basically solve most of the future power supply problems in East Africa.

In terms of other energy sources, East Africa is a region with relatively abundant wind power and very high solar energy potential. It is the region with the second largest solar radiation. In addition to tropical deserts, the huge plateau provides East Africa with huge potential.

 Finally, there is nuclear energy. East Africa is very rich in uranium mines. Unfortunately, this cutting-edge technology is not currently available in East Africa.

 (End of this chapter)