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The volume of cargo carried by Canadian railways increased in March, 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 25.5 million metric tonnes in March, up 16.1% from March 2009.
Compared with March 2009, freight loaded in Canada rose 14.0% to 23.0 million metric tonnes in March. The Canadian railway industry's core transportation systems, non-intermodal and intermodal, both contributed to the rise in cargo loaded.
Non-intermodal freight loadings, which are typically carried in bulk or loaded in box cars, rose 14.3% to 20.7 million metric tonnes. The commodity groups with the largest increases in tonnage were potash, coal, iron and steel (primary or semi-finished) and other metallic ores and concentrates.
In contrast, several commodity groups registered decreases. Leading the drop in tonnage was colza seeds (canola), followed by fresh, chilled or dried vegetables, wheat and newsprint.
Intermodal freight loadings, transported through containers and trailers loaded onto flat cars increased 10.9% to 2.2 million metric tonnes in March, compared with the same month the previous year.
Rail freight traffic coming from the United States rose to about 2.6 million metric tonnes, up 38.9% from March 2009. Both non-intermodal and intermodal freight transported from the United States contributed to the increase.
From a geographic perspective, 57.2% 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 March 2010 issue of Monthly Railway Carloadings, Vol. 87, no. 3 (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; fax 613-951-0009; transportationstatistics@statcan.gc.ca), Transportation Division.
