Imperial Transport Infrastructure

The Nesarian Empire sustains a vast transportation network across its massive expanse of territory, much of which has challenging terrain, and which must function effectively for hundreds of millions of users. The history of the Imperial transportation system stretches back to the ancient Windways and paved highways that began to be established under the reign of Empress Rixa I - though it was her husband and co-ruler, Eron, who was actually responsible for these developments.

Planes have become the dominant form of transport for very long-distance travel across the entire breadth of Inecuria - for example, if one were to travel from Nesaria to Kalzuranur - but the highly extensive train network remains the most common means of transport for long-distance travel between countries that are either direct neighbours or are otherwise nearby.

## Inecurian Units

The distance units commonly known as Inecurian units, or less commonly Inecurian Imperial units, are those used within the Nesarian Empire. The official name of these units is "Imperial units", but to distinguish them from British Imperial units they are often called Inecurian or Inecurian Imperial.

The primary Inecurian unit for measuring long distances is the *Hagéna* (frequently incorrectly pronounced without the *h* in many dialects), a unit which has its origins in how far the average horse was expected to travel in a single day along the mostly smooth paved surface of an Imperial Highway, and linguists agree that the word *Hagéna* is a heavily condensed and corrupted form of *hara géa tena*, literally "horse journey time". The count of *Hagéne* therefore represents roughly how many days it would take to traverse a given distance on horseback. Though previously it did not precisely align with any other system, the value of a single *Hagéna* was changed slightly in 1924 to be exactly 45 kilometres, necessitating a massive overhaul of signage across the continent. The SI symbol of a *Hagéna* is hg.

For shorter distances, a *Derigéna* is used, which is one two-thousandth of a *Hagéna*. Unlike *Hagéna*, *Derigéna* is an artificially constructed word, shortened from *Deriva Hagéna* (two thousand *hagéna*). The *Derigéna* was invented in 1733, and originally the commission overseeing the process intended to divide a *Hagéna* into a thousand pieces rather than two thousand, to create a simpler and neater decimal system, but they found that a thousandth of a *Hagéna* was simply too large to do anything with. The SI symbol of a *Derigéna* is drg.

Whilst distance is usually measured in *Hagéne*, the speed of a moving object (unless it is moving extremely quickly) is usually measured in *Derigéne*, as measurements of *Hagéne* per hour (hg/h) are too small to be viable. However, measurements of *Derigéne* per hour (drg/h) are far too large to quickly comprehend, so in 1959 it was decreed that all speed measurements for roads and railways should be in *Derigéne* per second (drg/s).

### Imperial Equivalents

* 1hg is the same as 27.9617 miles. All distance values beyond this shall be rounded to two decimal places, as they get very long.
* 0.5hg (1000drg) is the same as 13.98 miles.
* 0.25hg (500drg) is the same as 6.99 miles or 12,303.15 yards.
* 1drg is the same as 0.014 miles, 24.61 yards or 73.82 feet.
* 1hg/h is the same as 27.96 mph.
* 1drg/s is the same as 0.84 mph.

### Metric Equivalents

* 1hg is the same as 45 kilometres. Prior to the change in 1924, it was slightly more than this, at approximately 45.1km.
* 0.5hg (1000drg) is the same as 22.5 kilometres.
* 0.25hg (500drg) is the same as 11.25 kilometres.
* 1drg is the same as 0.0225 kilometres or 22.5 metres.
* 1hg/h is the same as 45 kph.
* 1drg/s is the same as 1.35 kph.

## Roads

As in any country, roads form the majority of the transport network across Inecuria. In the Nesarian Empire, cars drive on the left and the driver is seated on the right (as is typical for left-hand road networks); this originates from the ancient Windway, which had trains drive on the left.

Inecurian roads, like any country, have variable quality, but the major routes generally have a reputation for high quality, good maintenance and rapid repair in the event of failure. It is generally thought that Inecurian roads tend to be of good quality because they experience relatively low loads and, as such, degrade slowly; the extensive rail network means many journeys are taken by train rather than by car, and there are few heavy vehicles on the road network since the overwhelming majority of freight is transported by rail.

The Imperial road network is maintained on two distinct levels; local administrations handle the vast majority of the road network, but the largest roads on the most crucial routes - known as Imperial Highways (a loose translation of *Regasu Basatore*; a more literal translation would be Imperial Long-Roads) - are managed by the Imperial Highways Commission. The Imperial Highways are largely laid over ancient routes, most of which were created in the 2nd century and steadily maintained and developed over the millennia, and had all finished conversion into tarmac roads designed for motorised vehicles by 1938.

In modern times, Imperial Highways are wide, high-speed roads with a minimum of three lanes each side (i.e. a minimum of six lanes total), with a central reservation, a total lack of traffic lights and junctions, and service stations offering fuel, food and toilets at least every 25 minutes (based on the local speed limit).

### Speed Limits

With exceptions localised to urban or accident-prone areas, the Imperial Highways have a maximum speed limit of 140drg/s (117.44mph or 189kph), but there is a lower advisory speed limit of 100drg/s (83.89mph or 135kph). Exceeding the advisory speed limit is not illegal, but creates greater liability for the driver in the event of a collision. For large and heavy vehicles such as lorries, the advisory speed limit is instead the maximum speed limit.

Roads which do not meet the standard of an Imperial Highway but are still designed for high-speed cruising are capped to a speed limit of 90drg/s (75.5mph or 121.5kph), and most medium-sized roads adhere to the local national speed limit, which in all cases is either 80drg/s (67.11mph or 108kph) or 70drg/s (58.8mph or 94.5kph). Residential areas and low-speed roads, with some exceptions, typically have a speed limit of 35drg/s (29.4mph or 47.25kph), and town centres rarely have a limit faster than 25drg/s (21mph or 33.75 kph).

It is common - though not obligated by law - for vehicles designed for the Inecurian market to have the typical speed limits of 140, 100, 90, 80, 70, 35 and 25 marked out on the speedometer with coloured lines - often with each limit marked in a different colour - to make it easier to keep track of one's speed at a quick glance.

### Safety

The Imperial road network ranks amongst the safest roadways in the world, often placing within or just outside of the top ten safest road networks on Earth; its rate of traffic-related deaths is generally comparable to Switzerland or the United Kingdom. The main factors that analysts usually point to as the causes of this are extensive usage of traffic calming measures outside of high-speed roads to force careful driving, a strict licensing system that prohibits drivers from taking to public roads without passing what is often described as the world's most stringent driving test, and generally severe punishments for violations of traffic laws, with no possibility of regaining a driving licence once it is lost.

The licensing system is also a contributing factor to the low load on the road network relative to the Empire's population; though efficient public transport is generally thought of as the main factor, the difficulty of passing the theoretical and practical tests and the requirement to prove permanent access to a private parking spot forcefully limits the amount of drivers on the road. No overseas driving licences are valid in Imperial territory, meaning that tourists and other visitors do not strain a road network whose rules they are likely unfamiliar with.

## Rail

Inecuria's rail network was the first in the world to be constructed. This was partially due to the fact that Inecuria was the first region to experience an industrial revolution, but was mostly due to the pre-existing Windway; the concept of a railway had already existed in the minds of Inecurians for centuries, it was only the locomotives that were a new development. Whilst Inecuria's industrial revolution stagnated and to some extent was reversed in the wake of the Civil War, the rail network only continued to grow, and it was instrumental in the reconstruction effort after the devastation left by 21 years of constant war.

The density of rail varies between the countries of the Empire. The most rail-dense countries are Nesaria, Onshitama, Roulonne and Epsilucia, in that order. Unsurprisingly, Kuateoha has the least dense rail network by a significant margin, as constructing and maintaining infrastructure is a significant challenge in the Kuahi jungle; the rail network there merely connects together major towns and does not service rural settlements at all. However, on the whole, the Empire is one of the most rail-dense countries in the world, with an extremely extensive rail network featuring a diverse mix of light, medium and heavy rail. Along the busiest routes, freight trains operate on separate tracks to free up space for passenger services. There is a wide variety of commuter, regional and express passenger routes, and all the continent's major cities feature subways.

Although the Imperial obsession with rail has taken on an environmentalist flavour in recent decades, historically the Empire prioritised rail over motorised road transport for simple reasons of efficiency. Additionally, the dedication to rail took on a cultural dimension beginning in the mid-20th century, as rail came to be seen as a mode of transport that embodied Imperial ideals - that is, uniting for victory and prosperity. Cars and car-dependent infrastructure, on the other hand, came to be perceived as embodying the "wasteful and greedy nature of American individualism", as Emperor Adrion put it.

All the tracks in Inecuria are owned and maintained by the state-owned Imperial Rail Corporation (IRC). All rail services are either operated by the IRC or private companies that are subject to strict IRC regulations and timetables. The IRC is broken into numerous branches which handle a particular Imperial Country, which usually then has sub-branches within itself to handle specific regions. However, the Continental Express Service cuts through these branches to specifically operate high-speed long-distance express lines, most of which are on their own dedicated tracks, and many of which are sleeper services.