Welcome to RAC’s new Weekly Traffic Dashboard. On this page you’ll find information on the latest rail traffic trends, including a breakdown by commodity: grain & fertilizers (incl. potash and sulphur); intermodal; forest products; automotive; coal; metals and minerals; and energy, chemicals and plastics.
Canadian Class 1 Freight Traffic
Last updated on May 30, 2025
In week 21 (May 18-24), Canadian Class 1 freight traffic was up 4% compared to the same week in 2024. Carloads were up for grain & fertilizers (+19%, an increase of 4,354 carloads), Intermodal (+4%, an increase of 3,186 carloads), coal, and metals and minerals.
Across the first 21 weeks of 2025, Canadian Class 1 carloads were up 1% compared to the same period in 2024. Notable increases in carloads of grain & fertilizers (28,706 carloads), intermodal (48,359 carloads), and coal (31,128 carloads) were mostly offset by reductions in metals and minerals, as well as forest products, energy, chemicals and plastics, and automotive. Metals and minerals carloads (down 49,288 carloads) have been impacted by softer cross-border steel demand, owing to the 25% U.S. tariff. Weak demand for forest products persists. In August 2024, the U.S. raised its tariff on imports of Canadian softwood lumber from 8.05% to 14.54%.
Notes: The dates indicate the first day of the week (e.g., “5-Jan” corresponds to the week of January 5 to 11). Canadian Class 1 data includes the network-wide operations of CN and CPKC.
Western Canadian Grain
In Week 41 (May 11-17) of the 2024-2025 crop year, CN and CPKC moved 1.1 million metric tonnes of Canadian grain and grain products. Over the 2024–25 crop year to date, total shipments are 21% higher than the previous 3-year average, with weekly volumes above that benchmark in 38 of 41 weeks. Safe and resilient rail service strengthens Canada’s role in global agri-food markets—and keeps the supply chain moving from farm to port.
Crop year-to-date grain volumes (41 weeks)
47.4 million metric tonnes | +21% vs previous 3-year average
Notes: Data on Canadian grain shipments combine volumes from CN’s Western Canadian Grain Report and CPKC’s Canadian Grain Performance Scorecard. Weather data are from Environment and Natural Resources Canada. West min temp and West mean temp are calculated as the average temperature of cities throughout the Western Canadian Grain Supply Chain, including Thunder Bay, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, and Kamloops (Vancouver was omitted because temperatures there are not cold enough to cause significant supply chain disruptions).