In July 1856, the Vienna Government formally began implementing the "Lock-In Plan," increasing investment in infrastructure and opening public tenders to the outside world.
At the same time, the railway network began to be replanned. Nearly every city was included in the planned rail lines, which were then put out to tender.
This time, not only domestic railway companies but overseas railway companies could also participate in the bidding, with no investment restrictions whatsoever.
The old rule still applied: each railway line would be authorized to only one railway company. Duplicate construction and waste of resources would not be permitted, satisfying everyone's desire for monopoly operations.
It looked wonderfully promising, on the condition that the railway companies started work on schedule and finished on schedule. If they failed, they could prepare to weep!
Under the new plan, once the railway network was completed, the New Holy Roman Empire's total railway mileage would reach an astonishing 97,000 kilometers.
At present, however, the country's total railway mileage was only 15,800 kilometers, with merely 32,100 kilometers of railway projects under construction. The scale had now nearly doubled.
Considering that some of the newly planned railway routes were too remote to turn a profit easily, the Vienna Government also promised permanent tax exemptions for isolated sections in order to attract investors.
Such favorable news might fool ordinary investors, but clever people all knew it was merely an enticing pie painted in the sky. Yet in an age of market frenzy, who cared about such things?
Clever people all knew that whether the projects ultimately succeeded or failed, as long as they did not become the last ones left holding the bag, they could profit from them.
Although none of Austria's railway companies had ever turned a profit, railway stocks had continued to rise, and