Road transportation in East Africa had already formed massive competition with railways, and this was even under circumstances where East African road construction potential had not yet been fully unleashed.
As for inland water transport, which served as an obvious shortcoming in East African transportation, it had also been pushing hard in recent years, with market share having grown substantially. This was especially true across East Africa's several large lake basins, which formed a fairly developed regional water transportation network.
Entering the twentieth century, East Africa's inland shipbuilding industry also entered a stage of great development, with a notable increase in vessels operating across the basins of Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi, the Congo River, the Zambezi River, and others, as well as on East Africa's artificial canals.
Of course, Franz IV could hardly have an intuitive grasp of this point, for the regions he currently passed through largely bypassed areas with developed East African water transport.
However, the glorious achievements attained by East African railway and road construction alone were enough to leave Franz IV's mind in turmoil.
Looking at the majestic and magnificent Central Railway Station of New Frankfurt City before him, Franz IV developed a full sense of curiosity toward New Frankfurt City.
Except for Rhine City, this was his first time touring a major city in East Africa in detail. Although he had also passed through Dar es Salaam and Mbeya along the way, those were only brief stops, while Dodoma, Iringa, and First Town—though also quite magnificent and inferior to no European city—still bore a visible gap between themselves and East Africa's major cities.
New Frankfurt City was evidently also a member of those major cities in East Africa, which could be perceived from the developed scale of urban construction in New Frankfurt City.
"I plan