North American Rail Traffic Rose 24.8% in Week Ended April 24

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic rose 24.8% last week, marking a third straight week of gains topping 20% amid inflated comparisons due to last year's steep drops sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume rose 22.2% for the week ended April 24 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic jumped 27.2%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended April 17, North American rail traffic rose 28%. For the first 16 weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 8.4%.

In the week ended April 25, 2020, North American rail traffic slid 20.2%, as fallout from the pandemic weighed on demand.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 30% last week amid a 34.3% surge in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers surging and a 25% jump in carloads. U.S. rail traffic is up 9.4% for the first 16 weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic rose 5.5% last week, with carloads up 8.6% and intermodal units rising 2.3%. Canadian rail traffic is up 7.1% for the first 16 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic soared 47% last week, as carloads surged 52.7% and intermodal units rose 40.5%. Mexican rail traffic, which had been down for most of the year, is now up 0.6% for the year to date, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2021 12:49 ET (16:49 GMT)

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