Railway Carloadings, March 2010

(Statistics Canada)

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. Read more here.