The following is from the 1 November 2010 edition of Canadian Transportation and Logistics ”ctl.ca”.

The Canadian railway industry saw an increase in cargo loadings in August, as traffic originating on domestic railways as well as traffic received from American railways rose, according to a report from Statistics Canada.

Total rail freight traffic increased to 25.1 million metric tonnes in August, up 19.6% from the same month last year.

Freight loadings originating in Canada rose 18.1% from August 2009 to 22.6 million metric tonnes. The industry's core transportation systems, non-intermodal and intermodal, both contributed to rise, according to StatsCan.

Non-intermodal freight loadings, which are typically carried in bulk or loaded in box cars, rose 18.0% from August 2009 to 20.1 million metric tonnes. The commodity groups that saw the largest increases in tonnage were iron ores and concentrates, potash and iron and steel (primary or semi-finished).

While the loadings of a majority of commodity groups rose in August, a number of groups registered declines. Those with the largest decreases were lumber, other cereal grains and wood pulp.

Intermodal freight loadings, which involves transporting freight through containers and trailers loaded onto flat cars, increased 18.6% from August 2009 to 2.4 million metric tonnes.

Rail freight traffic received from the US rose to 2.5 million metric tonnes in August, up 34.7% from August 2009. The increase stemmed largely from non-intermodal freight loadings, which rose 37.3%.