Rail transport in Kulpania

Kulpania has an extensive and historic rail network, serving almost all of the country's major settlements. The first commercial railway in the country opened in 1841, operating a 45km route from Dalow to Minlesoca. The entire rail network on the mainland is managed by KulpanRail, a government-operated entity, who oversee 21,004km of railway, of which 13,811km are electrified. Micajer and Towtalt both also have one KulpanRail-managed rail line each, however the only rail line on the Isle of Blak is privately owned.

In 2018 there were 2.223 billion journeys on the KulpanRail network, a 6% increase from 2013. Rail usage has been steadily growing in Kulpania over the past thirty years, mainly due to increased investment in the network and the more recent introduction of congestion charging on many major cities' roads. There are several rail construction projects currently underway which will further increase passenger usage across the network.

History

The railway network of Kulpania was slow to start, with only 140km of railway tracks being in place thirty years after the first kilometre opened. The Lowtahtor Railway Company opened the nation's first major intercity line in 1873 between Lowtah and Tondil, prompting rapid growth of the network nationwide. By 1890 over 1,000km of railway had been constructed, and by 1900 this figure increased to 3,000km. Most of the growth was led by the Big Three railway companies: Dalow and Southeast Railway, Oloton Railway, and the Middex Railway Company. These three were formed after many smaller companies merged to form larger ones, and by 1905 these companies operated all rail services in the country.

After the merging of all railway services under three companies, the railways began to decline. The great economic downturn of 1908 led to a significant drop in railway usage, leaving the rail companies with little money to improve services. This situation continued until 1922, when KulpanRail was formed. This one government-owned entity would run all of the country's railways, which at this point were in serious need of improvement. One of the key aims of KulpanRail from its inception was to construct high-speed rail lines: an ambitious goal considering the large amount of work that was necessary to bring the rest of the network back to a suitable standard. However, by 1928, many of the major rail lines had been significantly upgraded, with new trains being run and stations being renovated. This allowed KulpanRail to open the country's first high-speed rail line between Dalow and Holt in 1934, by upgrading existing lines to a high-speed standard. This line would be extended onto Katril in 1942, and, in the opposite direction, to Lowtah and Artun in 1951 and 1959 respectively.

This focus on high-speed rail was not popular with the Kulpanian public, however, as, like before, many rural lines were being neglected. Because of this, KulpanRail was split into six separate franchises on 1 May 1967, with Kulpan highspeed being formed to force other franchises to focus on rural lines. This splitting of KulpanRail proved largely successful, with many more kilometres of railway being built throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and existing lines receiving further upgrades.