North American Rail Traffic Rose 23.2% in Week Ended May 8

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic rose 23.2% last week, marking a fifth straight week of gains topping 20% as comparisons remained inflated by last year's business shutdowns sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume rose 24% for the week ended May 8 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic rose 22.6%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended May 1, North American rail traffic rose 25.8%. For the first 18 weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 10.1%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic jumped 26.9% last week amid a 27.6% rise in carloads and a 26.3% increase in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers. U.S. rail traffic is now up 11.3% for the year to date.

Canadian rail traffic rose 12% last week, with carloads up 12% and intermodal units up 12.1%. Canadian rail traffic is up 7.5% for the first 18 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic rose 23.8% last week, as carloads surged 33.8% and intermodal units rose 12.8%. Mexican rail traffic is up 5.2% for the year to date, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2021 13:28 ET (17:28 GMT)

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