Railway carloadings

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September 2011 (preliminary) (Previous release)

Canadian railways carried 27.4 million tonnes of freight in September, up 12.9% from September 2010. The gain was the result of increases in both domestic and international cargo loadings.

Loadings in the railway industry's core domestic non-intermodal and intermodal transportation systems increased 11.2% to 24.2 million tonnes in September compared with the same month a year earlier.

Non-intermodal freight loadings rose 12.1% from September 2010 levels to 21.8 million tonnes. The gain was spurred by increased traffic in more than half of the commodity classifications carried by the railways. The commodity groups with the largest increases in tonnage were potash, lumber and colza seeds (canola).

Intermodal freight loadings of containers and trailers on flat cars rose 3.7% from the same month a year earlier to 2.4 million tonnes in September. The increase occurred solely on the strength of containerized cargo shipments.

Internationally, traffic received from the United States destined for or passing through Canada rose to 3.2 million tonnes in September, an increase of 27.4% compared with September 2010. The gain was driven primarily by increased loadings of non-intermodal freight.

From a geographic perspective, 58.4% of the freight traffic originating in Canada was in the Western Division of Canada, with the remainder loaded in the Eastern Division. For statistical purposes, the Eastern and Western Divisions 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 September 2011 issue of Monthly Railway Carloadings, Vol. 88, no. 9 (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.