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Last year, Canadian freight railroads hauled 237.3 billion revenue ton-miles of cargo, down 4.2 percent, and passenger railroads carried 72.3 million riders, up 6.5 percent compared with 2007 totals — a sampling of the information available in the Railway Association of Canada’s (RAC) latest “Railway Trends” edition.

The publication provides annual financial and operating data for 54 RAC member railroads over the past decade. Data shows the railroads operate an average of 775 trains a day in Canada, but generate only 3 percent of the transport sector's greenhouse-gas emissions, RAC said.

The publication also states that 1,266 freight railroad accidents occurred in 2008, 229 fewer than in 2007. The number of accidents declined to 2.8 accidents per billion gross-ton miles.

In addition, the latest edition shows the number of commuter-rail passengers in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec rose 5.8 percent in 2008 to 67.1 million. Canada’s intercity rail passengers increased by about 5 million while the number of rail tourists dropped 6.9 percent to 352,000.