North American Rail Traffic Rose 2.2% in Week Ended Feb. 27

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic rose 2.2% last week, rebounding from a steep decline brought on by severe winter weather a week earlier, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume fell 7.4% for the week ended Feb. 27 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic rose 12.4%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended Feb. 20, North American rail traffic fell 17.1%. For the first eight weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 1.1%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 1.7% last week after tumbling 21.7% a week earlier, as an 11.6% rise in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers more than offset an 8.5% decline in carloads. U.S. rail traffic is up 0.6% for the first eight weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic rose 8.9% last week on the strength of a 23.5% rise in intermodal units. Carloads slipped 1.6%. Canadian rail traffic is up 5.2% for the first eight weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic remained soft, sliding 14.8% last week, with carloads tumbling 16.9% and intermodal units down 12.3%.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2021 12:57 ET (17:57 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.