Weekly rail tonnage down 0.6 percent compared to previous year

Non-intermodal traffic loaded during the seven-day period ending December 21 was 4.6 million metric tonnes, down 1.5 percent from the same period of 1999, Statistics Canada reports.

The number of cars loaded was also down, showing a 1.1 percent decline.

Intermodal traffic tonnage was 399,000 tonnes, down 0.6 percent from the same period of 1999. The year-to-date figures were down 8.1 percent.

In total, rail traffic decreased 1.5 percent during the period. This brought the year-to-date total to 220.0 million tonnes, a decrease of 12.3 percent from the same period of 1999.