Canadian Rail Traffic Declines

OTTAWA - Jan 27/10 - SNS -- The volume of cargo carried by Canadian railways dropped in November, as both commodity loadings in Canada and traffic received from the United States declined, reports Statistics Canada.

Total freight traffic originating in Canada and received from the United States fell to 23.1 million meric tons (MT) in November, down 8.2% from November 2008.

Compared with November 2008, freight loaded in Canada fell 5.9% to 21.1 million MT in November. The Canadian railway industry's core transportation systems, non-intermodal and intermodal, both contributed to the drop in cargo loaded.

Non-intermodal freight loadings, which are typically carried in bulk or loaded in box cars, declined 6.2% to 19.0 million MT. The decrease was the result of reduced loadings in the majority of the commodity groups carried by the railways. The commodity groups with the largest declines in tonnage were coal, potash, wheat, nickel ores and concentrates and newsprint.

Despite these declines, several commodity groups registered strong gains. Loadings of other oil seeds and nuts, and other agricultural products led the pack, followed by fresh, chilled or dried vegetables.

Intermodal freight loadings, transported through containers and trailers loaded onto flat cars, decreased 3.3% to 2.1 million MT in November, compared with the same month the previous year.

Rail freight traffic coming from the United States fell to about 2.0 million MT in November, down 27.0% from November 2008. Both non-intermodal and intermodal freight transported from the United States contributed to the decline.

From a geographic perspective, 56.3% of the overall volume of cargo loaded by Canadian railways was in the Western Division of Canada, with the remainder loaded in the Eastern Division. The Eastern and Western Divisions, for statistical purposes, are separated by an imaginary line running from Thunder Bay to Armstrong, Ontario. Freight loaded at Thunder Bay is included in the Western Division while loadings at Armstrong are reported in the Eastern Division.