Canadian Rail Traffic Up

OTTAWA - Sep 20/06 - SNS -- Tonnage of freight carried by Canadian railways reached its highest level since 2000 in July, with Statistics Canada reporting they carried 23.9 million metric tons (MT) of freight, up 3.9% from last year.

However, July's figures were up only marginally from June's 23.8 million MT.

Total non-intermodal loadings amounted to 21.6 million MT, about the same as in June. Intermodal loadings, that is, containers and trailers hauled on flat cars, decreased 4.2% from June to 2.3 million MT.

Freight coming from the United States either destined for or passing through Canada held steady at 2.2 million MT, reflecting the non-intermodal trend of no change from the previous month.

Four commodities (wheat, iron ore and concentrates, coal and lumber) accounted for just over 42% of rail tonnage in the non-intermodal portion of goods loaded in July.

Potash, still the fifth largest commodity grouping, fell by almost 16.0% from last July, continuing its downward trend in 2006.

On a year-over-year basis, non-intermodal tonnage was 3.8% higher than in July 2005. Intermodal loadings rose 4.7%, while traffic received from the United States rose 12.2%.