During the Paris World Cup, the upper echelons of European nations had all witnessed the terrifying transport capacity of trains and understood the immense value of building railways. However, they soon learned from the Planning Bureau of the French Ministry of Transport that, aside from one line within Baden connecting Strasbourg, all the other planned railways were domestic French routes. The reason, naturally, was that the French Government had limited funds.
Though disappointed, the governments of the various nations were not surprised. After all, the cost of railways was calculated by the kilometer, and any given line required an astronomical investment of tens of millions of francs.
Some countries, such as Switzerland, coveted the enormous economic benefits of railways and decided to grit their teeth, raise the money themselves, and hire the French Railway Company to build them. The vast majority of nations, however, still intended to wait and see. Either they would strive to have the Ministry of Transport plan a route to their countries in a few years, or they would follow the French model and call upon private capital to invest in railways.
But at this moment, the high-ranking officials of every nation present realized that a new option had appeared—
If France made its railway technology public, every country could invest in building railways themselves!
That was entirely different from raising money to have the French Railway Company build them.
If they invited a French company in, all the funds would have to be handed over to the French, and a huge chunk of their own treasury would be instantly "dug away." But if they could obtain railway technology, they could establish their own railway companies to build them. Then, no matter how much money they invested, it would primarily circulate within their own countries.
Railway