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The volume of cargo carried by Canadian railways increased in January, as both commodity loadings in Canada and traffic received from the United States rose.
Total freight traffic originating in Canada and received from the United States increased to 22.4 million metric tonnes in January, up 7.6% from January 2009.
Compared with January 2009, freight loaded in Canada rose 7.4% to 20.3 million metric tonnes in January. The Canadian railway industry's non-intermodal transportation system contributed to the increase in cargo loaded.
Non-intermodal freight loadings, which are typically carried in bulk or loaded in box cars, rose 8.4% to 18.3 million metric tonnes. The commodity groups with the largest increases in tonnage were coal, potash, iron ores and concentrates, and wheat.
Despite this increase, several commodity groups registered decreases. Loadings of other cereal grains led the pack, followed by wood pulp, newsprint and lumber.
Intermodal freight loadings, transported through containers and trailers loaded onto flat cars, decreased 0.8% to 2.0 million metric tonnes in January, compared with the same month the previous year.
Rail freight traffic coming from the United States rose to about 2.1 million metric tonnes, up 9.6% from January 2009. Both non-intermodal and intermodal freight transported from the United States contributed to the increase.
From a geographic perspective, 57.1% of the freight traffic originating in Canada 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 January 2010 issue of Monthly Railway Carloadings, Vol. 87, no. 1 (52-001-X, free), is now available from the Key resource module of our website under Publications.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-866-500-8400; transportationstatistics@statcan.gc.ca), Transportation Division.
