Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 577,760 carloads and intermodal units, down 10.5 per cent. North American rail volume for the first 47 weeks of 2021 was 32,411,379 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.5 percent compared with 2020.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported US rail traffic for the week ending November 27, 2021, as well as volumes for November 2021.

US railways originated 917,787 carloads in November 2021, up two per cent, or 17,996 carloads, from November 2020. US railways also originated 1,028,039 containers and trailers in November 2021, down 9.6 per cent, or 108,705 units, from the same month last year.

Combined US carload and intermodal originations in November 2021 were 1,945,826, down 4.5 per cent, or 90,709 carloads and intermodal units from November 2020.

In November 2021, 12 of the 20 carload commodities including coal, up 20,731 carloads or 8.6 per cent; chemicals, up 5,563 carloads or 4.4 per cent; and crushed stone, sand & gravel, up 5,067 carloads or 7.4 per cent.

Commodities that saw declines in November 2021 from November 2020 included: motor vehicles & parts, down 8,186 carloads or 14.1 per cent; grain, down 7,901 carloads or 7.4 per cent; and all other carloads, down 3,355 carloads or 14.6 per cent.

"Coal leads the way, with carloads up more than 11 per cent, or nearly 306,000 carloads, mainly because the price of natural gas to electricity generators has doubled since the beginning of the year." said AAR vice president John Gray.

"Chemicals, grain and commodities related to steelmaking have also all showed solid carload growth this," he said.

Total combined US traffic for the first 47 weeks of 2021 was 23,792,101 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 6.7 percent compared to last year.

Total US weekly rail traffic was 430,793 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.8 percent compared with the same week last year.

Canadian railways reported 66,506 carloads for the week, down 18.9 per cent, and 46,106 intermodal units, down 38.4 per cent compared with the same week in 2020. For the first 47 weeks of 2021.

Canadian railways reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 6,916,883 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2.1 per cent.

Mexican railways reported 20,210 carloads for the week, down 6.7 per cent compared with the same week last year, and 14,145 intermodal units, down 3.6 per cent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railways for the first 47 weeks of 2021 was 1,702,395 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, up 3.6 per cent from the same point last year.