Railcar Movement Slows in March
OTTAWA - May 31/16 - SNS -- Canadian railway traffic was down 4.8% from last year at 29.4 million metric tons (MT) in March, according to Statistics Canada.
Freight originating in Canada decreased 2.3% to 26.8 million MT. These shipments are composed of both non-intermodal and intermodal freight.
Non-intermodal freight fell 1.1% to 296,000 carloads in March. The amount of freight loaded into these cars totalled 24.2 million MT, down 1.8% from the same month last year. The fall reflected a decrease in freight loadings of coal (down 274 000 MT), fuel oils and crude petroleum (down 269 000 MT) and potash (down 194 000 MT). This was the fifth consecutive month that the tonnage of coal, potash, and fuel oils and crude petroleum shipped by rail posted a year-over-year decline.
Intermodal freight loadings fell 8.0% to 176,000 units in March. In terms of weight, intermodal traffic fell 6.6% to 2.7 million MT, as a result of a decrease in containers and trailers on flat cars.
Freight traffic received from the United States fell 25.3% to 2.5 million MT, as a result of a decrease in non-intermodal shipments.
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