[4] The major "All-Red Route" ran as follows: Southern Britain → Gibraltar → Malta → Alexandria → Port Said (after construction of the Canal) → Suez → Aden → Muscat (and access to the Persian Gulf) → India → Sri Lanka → Burma → Malaya → Singapore (branching out into the Pacific Ocean towards Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and other British colonies).
The CPR quickly began operating steamships between the west coast of Canada and East Asia, and in 1899 entered the trans-Atlantic liner trade.
This made it possible to travel from Britain to Hong Kong (as well as Japan and China) westwards entirely by the CPR's services and without ever leaving a British-registered ship or British imperial territory.
The lack of a true "All-Red Route' - since British territory was not continuous between South Africa and Egypt was a major obstacle to this project being successful.
Britain claimed the Tanganyika Territory from Germany after World War I, creating the potential for an "All-Red Route" the length of Africa but the necessary sections of railway were never constructed.