Rail transportation in Canada, 2021

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Release date: April 5, 2023
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Infographic: Rail in Canada, 2021
Description: Rail in Canada, 2021

  1. In Canada, CN & CP are the two main freight rail transportation companies, while many other companies provide short-line freight rail transport. VIA Rail is the main passenger railway company.
  2. The industry’s total rail operating revenue was $17.1 billion, and the total rail operating expenses were $10.7 billion. Note 1
  3. There were 31,692 employees in the rail transportation industry, whose average annual salary $101,114.
  4. There were 2,443 freight locomotives and 55,671 freight cars.
  5. In Eastern Canada, including the Atlantic region, iron ores and concentrates (16.7 million tonnes) and mixed loads or unidentified freight (12.0 million tonnes) were the two dominant commodities moved by rail. By comparison, the two main commodities moved by rail in Western Canada, including North West Territories, were coal (37.8 million tonnes) and potash (23.1 million tonnes)

table 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of table 1. The information is grouped by Eastern Canada and Atlantic Region (appearing as row headers),  Tonnes (appearing as column headers).
Eastern Canada and Atlantic Region  Tonnes
Iron ores and concentrates 16,692,183
Mixed loads or unidentified freight 11,985,638
Others 42,302,834

table 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of table 2. The information is grouped by Western Canada ( Including North West Territories) (appearing as row headers), Tonnes (appearing as column headers).
Western Canada ( Including North West Territories) Tonnes
Coal 37,759,582
Potash 23,108,396
Others 140,596,844

Non-intermodal traffic accounted for 89% of all tonnage by rail. Of the 321.1 million tonnes of shipments, coal was the top commodity moved by rail, at 49.4 million tonnes.


Table 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 3. The information is grouped by Top Commodities (appearing as row headers), Tonnage (appearing as column headers).
Top Commodities Tonnage
Coal 49,401,523
Mixed loads or unidentified freight 30,598,020
Wheat 23,508,452
Potash 23,111,684
Iron ores and concentrates 18,273,448
Fuel oils and crude petroleum 14,329,110

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Copyright

Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2023

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

Catalogue no. 11-627-M

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