Railway constructions took place across Shandong, Yangtze Valley, Kunming and Manchuria. Provincial governments, with permission from the Qing court, also began to construct their own railways. The Canton-Hankou Railway and Sichuan-Hankou Railway were under the oversight of Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei and Sichuan. Faced with ongoing financial struggles, partly due to ongoing indemnity payments from the Boxer Protocol, the Qing court turned to Sheng Xuanhuai in 1910, a "classic bureaucratic capitalist", and adhered to his policy of securing foreign loans through the nationalization of all railway lines. In response to the Railway Protection Movement, the Qing court suppressed the unrest by force, contributing to the declining popularity of its government. By August 11 there were massive strikes and rallies in Chengdu. On 7 September the Viceroy of Sichuan, Zhao Erfeng, was asked to "intervene vigorously", and he ordered the arrest of key leaders in the Railway Protection League, then ordered troops to open fire on the protesters.

Meanwhile, inaction toward nationalization of railway lines in both Hunan and Hubei were criticized by the local press. Confidence in the Qing government among the populace continued to deteriorate in response to the escalation of the railway crisis.