Statistics Canada reports that Canadian railways transported 28.5 million tonnes of freight in February, up 5.0% from February 2022 on the strength of increasing grain shipments, marking the 10th straight month of year-over-year growth.
The Federal Agency notes that the volume of freight carried in February 2023 was well above the five-year average for the month, breaking the record of 27.4 million tonnes established in the same month in 2021.
Non-intermodal freight loadings in Canada increased for the 10th consecutive month, up 9.6% year over year to 22.5 million tonnes in February, led by large increases in some agricultural and food products-notably grains.
Domestic intermodal shipments-mainly containers-continued their downward trend, falling 8.6% year over year to 2.5 million tonnes in February, a third consecutive month of decline.
Freight traffic coming from the United States remained well below February 2022 levels, falling 10.3% to 3.5 million tonnes in February, marking the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year decline.