The XBoat route is the Imperial communication network. There may be a lot of trade just associated with the XBoat system itself: bureaucrats; government cargoes; couriers; special cargoes for XBoat tenders/station, Navy and Scout personnel and cargo; and cargoes for transfer off the XBoat route.
With some of these, especially the government stuff, the Imperium might want to reserve capacity, to ensure things that are needed can get to where they are needed quickly. It's not to hard to imagine that there might be a premium associated with this, or a subsidy.
Reasonable.
Could ships operated by local corporations - i.e. Moran and those in it's nearby systems, make a dent in that 950 figure?
Yeah, I think they'd have to.
Routes and Corporations are Specialized
I think you're spot-on about routes being specialized. The intent is that different routes serve differerent purposes, and that corporations cater to purpose. I guess that means when a corp wants to target something they're not primarily involved in, they create a subsidiary -- like Tukera's hold on the Aramis subsector is strictly via Akerut.
I've been tweaking my "Trade Routes" notes a bit:
Long-Haul Routes
Every time a megacorporation or megacorporate starship is mentioned in Merchant Prince and The Traveller Adventure, it seems to be in the context of long-haul transport and shipping through the Imperium, terminally connecting two distant and important worlds -- for example, Vland-Rhylanor -- in a chain of jumps made by a transport.
These routes, referred to as major trade routes in the Imperium, Long-Haul, Long-Distance, and main route, appear to use the Sector Routes as their stepstones from one major Imperial world to the other. Their overarching purpose or priority appears to be linked to the terminal worlds, more than any shipping the ships may do in between.
Megacorps own these routes (Makhidkarun, Naasirka...), using 1,000 to 100,000 ton transports and freighters rated Jump-4 or better, accompanied by escorts (also rated Jump-4 or better).
Sector Routes
Sector Routes are called Major Trade Routes, and are differentiated from Subsector Major Trade Routes by context. They appear to be identical to the segments of the XBoat Route which fall within a sector. Sector routes are said to link up the major worlds of a sector.
Sector-wide lines like Al Morai use these routes, with 1,000 to 5,000 ton transports and freighters rated Jump-4, and accompanied by escorts rated Jump-4. Some sector-wide lines could be subsidiaries of megacorporations.
Subsector Routes
Subsector Routes are called Major Trade Routes, but only when speaking in the context of subsectors and subsector lines. These routes are generally feeders to the Sector Routes. Any local, lucrative route also qualifies as a Subsector Route, including segments of the XBoat Route which are close to and within the subsector, and routes of the sort Akerut had set up in Aramis subsector with its 5,000t J-1 Hercules-class ships.
Subsector lines (such as Oberlindes Lines and Sinzarmes), and a large number of fledgling lines, use these routes. Some subsector lines are subsidiaries of sector-wide lines and megacorporations. Freighters and liners are often armed, displace up to 5,000 tons, and are rated Jump-1 through Jump-3. Patrol Cruisers serve as escorts or route protectors.
Interface Routes
Interface Routes appear to connect many worlds within a subsector to other worlds across a territory boundary. These routes may range from 1 to 100 hexes long, though, so I expect Interface Lines to be operating from all worlds which have interesting trade codes (Cp In Ag etc).
Interface Lines use these routes (such as Baraccai Technum and McClellan Factors). Other lines can also use these routes (Oberlindes Lines). Interface lines may be subsidiaries of other lines. Freighters and liners displace up to 5,000 tons, and are rated Jump-1 through Jump-3. Ships are usually well-armed, and accompanied by escorts rated Jump-3 or better.
