Canadian Rail Cargo Volume Increases 8% Year-Over-Year in January
Railway carloadings, January 2025
On Monday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) released its railroad loading statistics for January. The volume of cargo carried by Canadian railways reached 32.1 million tons, up 8.0% from January 2024. Year-over-year gains in car loadings of wheat, coal, and canola contributed to the overall increase.
The overall freight volume was above the five-year average of 30.3 million tons for the month.
The increase in total Canadian freight carried in January was due to higher volumes across all types of rail operations: non-intermodal loadings (mainly commodities), intermodal loadings (mainly containers), and freight traffic from connections with American railways.
In January, intermodal shipments—mainly containers—originating in Canada were up 12.5% year-over-year to 3.1 million tons. Freight traffic from US rail connections increased 7.8% year-over-year, or 259,000 tons, to reach 3.6 million tons. This was the highest volume recorded for the month of January since 2022.
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