Transportation in Nanako

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Transportation in The Confederation of Nanako Islands is modern and highly developed. Nanako's transport sector stands out for its energy efficiency: it uses less energy per person compared to other countries, thanks to a high share of rail transport and low overall travel distances. Some means of transport in Nanako are also very expensive in international comparison, reflecting high tolls and taxes, particularly on automobile transport.

Nanako is unique among industrialized nations for having a very low rate of car ownership per citizen making road transportation be only the second main mean of transportation after train. The islands' mountainous landscape and decades of environmental and public transportation policies played in favour of railways. The nation is nonetheless very well served by an extensive paved road network of 644,510km of highways, interstates, and paved roads. Merchandise is primarily hauled to ports via rail.

Rail is the first mean of transportation on Nanako. Rail transports millions of passengers on its 3,946.46 km of high speed lines daily, and many more on the 16,251 km long standard tracks of the network. The market is partially privatized, the high speed network "Kokutetsu" (国鉄, literally National Railway, Federal Express (Express Fédéral) is operated by the federal Nanako Railway company.

Domestic air and ship transportation come equally third as preferred mean of transport. The national flag carrier airline, Nanako Airlines, is one of the world's largest air transport company. The domestic airlines market is very well developed, connecting the many islands to the main island and the continent, or flying over the mountain chains. Ship transportation is the primary mean of exportation and of island supplying. Ferry transport as a very important role in smaller islands inhabitant's everyday lives.

Public transportation is extensively used do to the very urban and dense nature of cities. The largest rapid transit network, the Waterpoo Metropolitan Underground Railway (Waterpoo Metro) transports nearly 3 million people daily.

Railway

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Nanako has a long history of railway transportation. The first line, the Laval-Champelois railway, was built in 1836 as a portage line by entrepreneur Henry Morton. In 1839, the Railway Bond Act guaranteed bond returns on all railways over 121 km (75 mi). This led to rapid expansion of railways on Nanako. This considerably reduced travel times and the large tunnel and bridge infrastructure required to lay track in the Nanakian landscape boosted considerably the economy.

In the 1860s, while passenger transport became more and more important, long intercity lines where largely funded by the government, creating in 1864 the Royal Nanakian Railways (RNR), the largest operator of passenger lines on Nanako until 1934. The rail network continuously expanded over the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th. In 1876, the Jade Coast Express luxury train linked Waterpoo, Narakonai, Hashikoshi, Kiyonokawa, Inaba and Shubikujiwa in 10 hours. In the 1930s, Nanako is stricken by the 1929 stock market crash. To save the Nanakian railway, the RNR network is sold to private companies to the discretion of federal state legislation.

After the second world war, the network is thoroughly reconstructed, partly by government funds. Long intercity lines are once again own by the government, thus was created Nanako Railway (succesor of RNR). After the independence in 1957, following the Shinkansen example, the government planned the construction of high speed lines to upgrade the government owned railways. In 1965, the first Federal Express line was opened, the Waterpoo-Gasaiyonomo line, as test track, operated by the Nanako Railway Class 100, top speed 200 kph, traveled in less than an hour.

In the 1970s, rail transport became the first mean of transportation and in the 1990s, taxes on automobile transportation accentuated the trend. By 2018, the share of train transportation in the transportation mix of Nanako accounted for 46% of the travels.

Federal Express, Kokutetsu

Federal Express trains and lines, branded as "Kokutetsu" is a government-owned (Crown corporation) high-speed rail system connecting the major cities of the main island of Nanako Islands. It was built to reduce travel times and reduce the transportation complications caused by the mountainous landscape. Construction of lines started in 1964 with the Waterpoo-Gasaiyonomo line, opened in 1965, as a 100km long test track. The network now comprises 3,946.46 km of high speed tracks (between 320 kph and 300 kph), in 6 main lines. The longest travel you can make on the network is the 955 km long Shubikujiwa-Gasaiyonomo in 4 hours. The main lines operate maximum speeds of 320 kph, while auxiliary lines operate maximum speeds of 200 kph (e.g. Hokuto Kyūkō, Hokuto Express).

It is one of the most used high speed networks in the world with a record of ridership in 2019 with 93 million passengers throughout the year. The most used line is the Waterpoo-Inaba-Shubikujiwa corridor (Adachi-sen, Adachi Line), making 27% of the annual ridership. Currently, the standard rolling stock is the NR Class 810 (top speed 350 kph). A 514.4 km long additional line is planned to be open in 2022, linking Stanley to Horogata and Maule via the northern route, through Fuijidaka and Tanwankawa.

Railway per state

Depending on the state, the rail network is operated by public or private companies. High speed rail is owned by the federal government. States own the rail infrastructure and loan it to private operators and maintenance companies, to the discretion of federal state legislation. State markets are often monopolized by one company, with most of the states having only one major passenger operator. This uniformity helps managing time tables and all state-wide companies are reputed to be punctual. The only states to fully rely on private companies are the State of Nokabe and the State of Adachi Bay.

In 2018, state networks for passengers were primarily operated by:

• Royal Poole Railroads (RPR), State of Poole, part of the MTA group (Poole Crown corporation)

• Adachi Bay Railway Authority (ABRA), State of Adachi Bay

• Nokarail, State of Nokabe

• Compagnie Ferroviaire Nationale Côte Est (CFNCE), "National Railway Company East Coast", State of Hokosinawa (Société d'Etat)

• I/Lines (Isles Lines), Southern Isles state (Southern Isles Crown corporation)

• Northern Rail Transit (NRT), Northern Lands State (Northern Lands Crown corporation)

644,510 km of paved roads
3946.46 km of high speed rail (300-320kph)
16,251 km of rail (<300kph)