Réseau National Intégré de Transport
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The Réseau national intégré de transport, or Integrated National Transport Network (RNIT) is the primary public land-transport network in Kanjor. It competes with AirKanjor, the national air carrier of Kanjor, and AirTondola, a regional carrier.
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[edit] Foundation
The RNIT was founded in 2373, after a Les Verts du Kanjor initiative. It had to fulfil two basic requirements; firstly to link up all minor public transportation into a national network, and secondly to provide affordable transport, whether across town or across the nation.
[edit] Network
The network reached Stage One in mid 2374, and will have completed Stage Two by the middle of 2376. Stage Three is expected to be completed by 2378.
Stage One was the rail connection between the major cities of Kanjor; Atyr, Afar, Deims, Kanjo, Pesançon, and Narseille. The specially built EIL m370 trains connect the main centres on high-speed lines. Three existing ferries linking the mainland also play a key part in the Stage One development, and new stations were built for them.
Stage Two is the rail connection between the major cities and the minor cities; such as Belfort, Soulon, Bayonville, Meliere, and Resiros. It will also see the implementation of tram lines in the major cities.
Stage Three is the completion of local networks, including an upgrade of bus lines and tram lines in the urban areas, and the extension of light rail lines into rural towns.
[edit] Future Expansion
The three ferries are expected to be joined by a fourth, which will connect Talenfort to Narseille. The existing ferries are expected to be replaced in 2384.
[edit] Vehicles
The backbone of the RNIT are the EHI m370 high-speed trains. Rather than spend the excessive amounts needed to re-track all of Kanjor with high-speed railways with tilted corners, engineers at Erak Heavy Industries developed a tilting train, which would allow the trains to turn at high speed on conventional rails, at speeds up to 220km/h.
The EHI LT m373 tram is 32 meters long, and features air-conditioning, cameras inside and outside (instead of rear view mirrors) and 43 computers. It can accommodate up to 202 passengers with a maximum speed of 70 km/h.
The buses are almost entirely from the previous public transport networks, and are often a mix of local and foreign manufactures, and of varying ages and qualities. Arsenal de Helion has been contracted to begin improving the buses for RNIT, but many of the existing buses will continue to operate for many years.
[edit] Criticisms
RNIT drew criticisms from senators from the Partie Patriotique de Kanjor for its nationalising of local transport networks, which they believe will degrade quality of service and customer feedback.
RNIT was also criticised for favouring the Kanjoran company Erak Heavy Industries, and virtually ignoring all foreign manufactures. All vehicles commissioned for RNIT will be produced by EHI or Arsenal de Helion.
In addition, the subsidies program was criticised from both sides; from the right for being too wasteful, and from the left for not being generous enough. The subsidies program partially covers the cost of the trip, with the rest being user paid. A pre-paid smart card service allows users to seamlessly switch between train, tram, or bus.
