According to Statistics Canada, the volume of rail freight carried in Canada totaled 27.5 million tons in January, up 3.7 percent from the same month last year.
Freight originating in Canada increased 6.4 percent to 25.0 million tons. These shipments are composed of both non-intermodal and intermodal freight.
Non-intermodal freight rose 5.9 percent to 273,000 carloads. The amount of freight loaded into these cars totaled 22.3 million tons in January, up 6.8 percent from the same month last year. The rise reflected an increase in freight loadings of iron ores and concentrates, up 2.2 million tons.
For the second consecutive month, the tonnage of coal, potash, and fuel oil and petroleum shipped by rail declined year over year.
Intermodal freight loadings rose 5.6 percent to 178,000 units in January. In terms of weight, intermodal traffic grew 3.3 percent to 2.6 million tons as a result of an increase in containerized cargo shipments.
Freight traffic received from the United States fell 17.8 percent to 2.5 million tons as a result of a decrease in both non-intermodal and intermodal shipments.