North American Rail Traffic Rose 22.2% in Week Ended April 10

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic jumped 22.2% last week, as year-over-year comparisons remain inflated following last year's steep declines in volume related to the coronavirus pandemic, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume rose 16% for the week ended April 10 on a dozen reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic surged 28.4%, the trade group said.

In the week ended April 3, North American rail traffic rose 17.6%. For the first 14 weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 6.2%.

In the week ended April 11, 2020, North American rail traffic plunged 20.1%, as an economic freeze in large chunks of the economy sparked by the coronavirus pandemic led to reduced demand for freight services.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 24.5% last week, with the volume of intermodal containers and trailers soaring 31.2% and carloads jumping 17.4%. U.S. rail traffic is up 6.8% for the first 14 weeks of the year.

Canadian rail traffic rose 10.8% last week amid a 14.4% rise in intermodal units and a 7.7% gain in carloads. Canadian rail traffic is up 6.9% for the first 14 weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic leapt 48.4% last week, marked by jumps of 38.9% jump in carloads and 62.3% rise in intermodal units. For the year to date, Mexican rail traffic is down 4%, the AAR said.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 14, 2021 12:42 ET (16:42 GMT)

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