KSU Kansas City Southern

By Colin Kellaher

North American rail volume of carloads and intermodal units slipped 0.6% last week as U.S. grain shipments fell sharply, the Association of American Railroads said Wednesday.

Carload volume for the week ended April 6 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads fell 1.3%, while intermodal traffic rose 0.2%, the trade group said.

North American rail traffic was 1.9% lower in the week ended March 30. For the first 14 weeks of the year, North American volume is down 1.3%.

The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 2.8% last week. Carloads fell 3.9% amid a 13.9% drop in grain shipments, while intermodal traffic fell 1.6%.

Some railroad tracks remain flooded from catastrophic flooding after major snow melt and heavy rain socked some parts of the nation's breadbasket in mid-March, according to freight-markets data provider FreightWaves.

Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (BRKA) BNSF Railway, which were hit hardest by the flooding, have managed to restore most service in the region, FreightWaves said.

U.S. rail traffic is down 1.8% for the year to date, the AAR said.

The group said rail traffic rose 6% in Canada and 3.1% in Mexico for the week ended April 6.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 10, 2019 11:03 ET (15:03 GMT)

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