Highlights

View the most recent version.

1. Canadian railways carried 23.1 million tonnes of freight in January, a 4.9% gain from January 2010.
2. The gain was the result of a rise in non-intermodal domestic traffic as well as traffic received from railway connections in the United States.
3. Non-intermodal traffic rose to 18.8 million tonnes in January, up 5.4% compared to the same month last year. The rise is attributable to increased loadings in 43 of the 63 commodity groups carried by Canadian railways. The commodity groups with the largest gains in tonnage were potash, wood pulp and lumber.
4. Intermodal freight loadings fell 2.9% from January 2010 to a little less than 2.0 million tonnes. The drop was the result of a decline in both containerized cargo shipments and trailers loaded on flat cars.
5. On an international scale, traffic received from the United States destined for or passing through Canada rose 8.0% from January 2010 to 2.3 million tonnes. Gains in both non-intermodal and intermodal loadings contributed to the increased traffic.
6. On a geographic basis, 56.6% of the freight traffic originating in Canada was loaded in the Western Division of Canada, with the remainder loaded in the Eastern Division. The Eastern and Western Divisions, for statistical purposes, are separated by an imaginary line running from Thunder Bay to Armstrong, Ontario. Freight loaded at Thunder Bay is included in the Western Division while loadings at Armstrong are reported in the Eastern Division.