North American Rail Traffic Rose 0.7% in Week Ended Jan. 30

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail traffic edged up 0.7% last week, wrapping up a month of gains to start the year, data from the Association of American Railroads showed.

Carload volume fell 3.4% for the week ended Jan. 30 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic rose 4.7%, the trade group said Wednesday.

In the week ended Jan. 23, North American rail traffic rose 7.4%. For the first four weeks of the year, North American rail traffic is up 4.9%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 2.1% last week, as a 7.6% increase in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers more than offset a 4.1% decline in carloads. U.S. rail traffic is up 5.3% for the first four weeks of the year.

"We are encouraged by rail volumes in January," John Gray, AAR senior vice president, said of the U.S. data. "To be sure, the economy remains under strain with a good deal of uncertainty, but we're cautiously optimistic about the future."

Canadian rail traffic fell 3.3% last week amid a 3.4% decline in carloads and a 3.3% drop in intermodal volume. Canadian rail traffic is up 5.6% for the first four weeks of the year.

Mexican rail traffic slipped 0.6% last week, as a 6% drop in intermodal units more than offset a 4.5% rise in carloads, the AAR said. Mexican rail traffic is down 3.7% for the first four weeks of the year.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2021 12:45 ET (17:45 GMT)

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