North American Rail Traffic Rose 6.2% in Week Ended Feb. 1
February 05 2020 - 1:15PM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
North American rail traffic rose 6.2% last week amid nascent
signs of improvement for the industry, data from the Association of
American Railroads showed.
Carload volume for the week ended Feb. 1 on 12 reporting U.S.,
Canadian and Mexican railroads rose 2.6%, while intermodal traffic
jumped 10%, the trade group said Wednesday.
North American rail traffic was down 3.6% in the week ended Jan.
25. For the first five weeks of the year, North American traffic is
down 3.9%, the AAR reported.
The AAR said U.S. rail traffic rose 2.4% last week, as a 5.2%
rise in the volume of intermodal containers and trailers more than
offset a 0.6% decline in carloads.
For the month of January, U.S. rail traffic fell 5.6% amid
continued softness in manufacturing and global economic weakness
that was exacerbated by trade uncertainties, the AAR said.
However, the trade group said it saw glimmers of hope last
month, as nearly half of the carload categories it tracks showed
year-over-year gains and several other commodities posted smaller
declines than in recent months.
"It's too early to say if the worst is behind us, but railroads
are hopeful that 2020 will see an improved business climate and
rising volumes across much of their traffic base," said John Gray,
AAR senior vice president.
Canadian rail traffic rose 13.9% last week, with carloads up
10.6% and intermodal units jumping 18%. Canadian rail traffic is
down 1.4% for the first five weeks of the year.
Mexican rail traffic surged 34.7% for the week following a 30.5%
rise a week earlier, as intermodal units soared 70.1% and carloads
rose 11.4%. Mexican rail traffic is up 12.5% for the first five
weeks of the year.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 05, 2020 13:00 ET (18:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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