The United States now had more than 200,000 kilometers of railways. In other words, East Africa would need to build at least 200,000 kilometers of railways in the future to meet the nation's needs. But American railways could not possibly stop growing; at their future peak, they would reach at least 400,000 kilometers. Ernst still had to think carefully over such an astonishing figure.
The East African mainland was nearly twice as large as the continental United States—Alaska did not belong to the United States in this timeline—so doubling the railway mileage was understandable. Yet based on the path of railway development in Europe and America in his previous life, Ernst still needed to remain cautious.
Of course, America's extraordinarily extensive railway development was inseparable from the current era. First and foremost, Americans could not imagine that automobiles would develop on such a massive scale in the future, becoming an essential means of transport for virtually every American household.
Second, the Panama Canal had not yet been completed. Thus, the main means of travel between the East and West Coasts of the United States had to rely on railways. Going by sea meant circling the entirety of South America, much like how trade between Asia and Europe had once needed to detour around Africa's coast before the Suez Canal opened.
Speaking of the Suez Canal, Ernst's feelings were complicated. Without the Suez Canal, East Africa's economy could certainly have climbed another flight of stairs. But without it, East Africa's expansion into Southern Africa during its first twenty years would certainly not have gone so smoothly either.
The opening of the Suez Canal had reduced the great powers' attention toward Africa. Moreover, the Suez Canal made the main routes for East Africa's European immigrants, as well as its import and export