Highlights

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1. Rail freight traffic carried by Canadian railways rose to 22.5 million tonnes in February, up 3.2% from February 2010.
2. The increase was the result of a rise in both domestic traffic and in traffic received from the United States.
3. The Canadian railway's core domestic transportation systems, non-intermodal and intermodal, combined for almost 90% of the total traffic carried in February. For the month, their combined freight rose 1.7% from February 2010 to 20.0 million tonnes.
4. Non-intermodal freight loadings rose 1.1% from the same month last year to 18.0 million tonnes in February 2011. The rise was attributed to increased loadings in 35 out of the 63 commodity classifications carried by the railways. The commodity groups with the largest gains in tonnage were wood pulp, potash and lumber.
5. Intermodal freight loadings, which involve the movement of freight between two or more modes of transportation, rose 6.8% from February 2010 to 2.1 million tonnes in February 2011. The gain was solely due to increased containerized cargo shipments, which grew 7.2% to almost 2.0 million tonnes.
6. Rail freight traffic destined for or passing through Canada from rail carriers operating in the United States climbed 16.9% from February 2010 to 2.5 million tonnes. The gain occurred on the strength of non-intermodal shipments, which rose 18.5% to 2.4 million tonnes.
7. On a geographic basis, 58.7% 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.