North American Rail Traffic Rose 14.1% in Week Ended March 27

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic jumped 14.1% last week, as last year's steep drop in business related to the coronavirus pandemic inflated comparisons, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume rose 4.8% for the week ended March 27 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic surged 23.8%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended March 20, North American rail traffic rose 9.5%. For the first 12 weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 4.3%.

In the 12th week of 2020, traffic fell 7.7%, as fallout from widespread shutdowns sparked by the pandemic weighed on volume.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 16.1% last week, with the volume of intermodal containers and trailers up 25.8% and carloads rising 6%. U.S. rail traffic is up 4.5% for the first 12 weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic rose 12.4% last week amid a 22.2% jump in intermodal units and a 4.9% rise in carloads. Canadian rail traffic is up 6.2% for the first 12 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic fell 3.6% last week, as a 6.7% drop in carloads more than offset a 0.8% rise in intermodal units. For the year to date, Mexican rail traffic is down 5.5%, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2021 13:35 ET (17:35 GMT)

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