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Rail News: Rail Industry Trends
1/13/2011
Rail News: Rail Industry Trends
RailAmerica, Genesee & Wyoming registered traffic gains in December
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In December, RailAmerica Inc.’s 40 U.S. and Canadian railroads handled 71,209 carloads, up 4 percent compared with December 2009 volume.
The short-line holding company reported gains in nine of 12 commodity groups. The biggest gainers: metallic ores and metals, up 34.3 percent to 4,970 units; “other” traffic, up 22.2 percent to 2,396 units; coal, up 14.1 percent to 15,621 units; and non-metallic minerals and products, up 13.1 percent to 6,092 units.
Metallic ores and metals traffic was driven by higher demand in the Midwest and Northeast regions, coal traffic was propelled by high Central Region demand, and non-metallic minerals and products traffic was assisted by healthy demand in the Central and Northeast regions.
The only commodity categories that registered significant declines were motor vehicles, down 65.2 percent to 754 units (primarily because of weak Midwest Region demand), and agricultural products, down 10.2 percent to 11,430 units (primarily because of sluggish demand in the Midwest and West regions), according to RailAmerica.
Meanwhile, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) reported December carloads totaling 80,448 units, up 29.6 percent compared with December 2009 volume. Same-railroad traffic climbed 17.6 percent.
The company, which owns 63 regionals and short lines in the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands, attributes the increase to strong demand for coal and coke traffic, primarily in the Illinois Region, and farm and food products traffic, primarily in the Australia Region.
In the fourth quarter, GWI’s traffic jumped 19.4 percent to 224,970 carloads. Same-railroad traffic rose 15.4 percent.
The short-line holding company reported gains in nine of 12 commodity groups. The biggest gainers: metallic ores and metals, up 34.3 percent to 4,970 units; “other” traffic, up 22.2 percent to 2,396 units; coal, up 14.1 percent to 15,621 units; and non-metallic minerals and products, up 13.1 percent to 6,092 units.
Metallic ores and metals traffic was driven by higher demand in the Midwest and Northeast regions, coal traffic was propelled by high Central Region demand, and non-metallic minerals and products traffic was assisted by healthy demand in the Central and Northeast regions.
The only commodity categories that registered significant declines were motor vehicles, down 65.2 percent to 754 units (primarily because of weak Midwest Region demand), and agricultural products, down 10.2 percent to 11,430 units (primarily because of sluggish demand in the Midwest and West regions), according to RailAmerica.
Meanwhile, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) reported December carloads totaling 80,448 units, up 29.6 percent compared with December 2009 volume. Same-railroad traffic climbed 17.6 percent.
The company, which owns 63 regionals and short lines in the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands, attributes the increase to strong demand for coal and coke traffic, primarily in the Illinois Region, and farm and food products traffic, primarily in the Australia Region.
In the fourth quarter, GWI’s traffic jumped 19.4 percent to 224,970 carloads. Same-railroad traffic rose 15.4 percent.
