US rail up 8.7pc last month, highest since October 2008

THE Association of American Railroads (AAR) recently released the figures that rail carloads improved 8.7 per cent in October year on year to 299,108 carloads, marking the highest point since October 2008 though still down 7.9 per cent from it, reported American Shipper.

Citing the statistics from AAR's November Rail Time Indicators Report, intermodal traffic in October rose 14 per cent year on year and 1.2 per cent compared to October 2008.

It reached a weekly average of 235,444 intermodal units in October, showing the highest since October 2007 and the 12th-highest weekly monthly average on record.

Rail traffic in October suggested a moderate growth of about two per cent, which would be continuing into the fourth quarter, said AAR senior vice president John Gray. "Just like our nation's economy still has further to go to full recovery, so does rail traffic. Still, traffic is much better than it was a year ago, especially on the intermodal side, and railroads look forward to continuing to move the economy forward."
(Source:www.schednet.com)