Statistics Canada
www.statcan.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Railway carloadings
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Related subjects
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.
Total freight traffic originating in Canada and received from the United States fell to 23.1 million metric tonnes in November, down 8.2% from November 2008.
Compared with November 2008, freight loaded in Canada fell 5.9% to 21.1 million metric tonnes 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 metric tonnes. 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 metric tonnes in November, compared with the same month the previous year.
Rail freight traffic coming from the United States fell to about 2.0 million metric tonnes 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.
Available on CANSIM: table 404-0002.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2732.
The November 2009 issue of Monthly Railway Carloadings, Vol. 86, no. 11 (52-001-X, free), is now available. From the Key resource module of our website, choose Publications.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact the Dissemination Unit (toll-free 1-866-500-8400; fax: 613-951-0009; transportationstatistics@statcan.gc.ca), Transportation Division.
