North American Rail Traffic Rose 22.4% in Week Ended May 22

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic rose 22.4% last week, posting a seventh straight week of gains topping 20%, as economies continue to make strong recoveries from the coronavirus pandemic, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume jumped 24.6% for the week ended May 22 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic rose 20.4%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended May 15, North American rail traffic rose 25.6%. For the first 20 weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 11.4%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 23.4% last week amid a 27.2% jump in carloads and a 20.4% rise in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers. U.S. rail traffic is up 12.7% for the first 20 weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic rose 19.1% last week, as carloads rose 16% and intermodal units surged 22.4%. Canadian rail traffic is up 8.5% for the first 20 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic rose 21.6% last week, with carloads soaring 28.8% and intermodal units up 13.1%. Mexican rail traffic is up 6.6% for the year to date, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 26, 2021 12:51 ET (16:51 GMT)

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