RailState: ‘Container Volumes Drop on CPKC; Volumes on CN Continue Historic Levels’
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Total container volume through the western Canada ports was 94,791 containers in May, down slightly from April’s nearly 97,000 containers, according to real-time network visibility provider RailState, which independently tracks all freight rail movements across Canada. April’s totals were the highest ever recorded by RailState, which was established in 2021. The declines all came on CPKC, which moved 15.3% less container volume than in April, and was down 2.9% from May 2023.
According to RailState, CN continued moving “historic” container volumes, moving 4.8% more containers in May than in April through the Port of Vancouver. That was 44% more containers than May 2023. CN ran nine additional trains out of Vancouver in May.
CN also moved 19,305 containers through Prince Rupert. Combined container volume on CN through Vancouver and Prince Rupert was 6% higher in May than April and was a second consecutive month of record container volume captured by RailState’s network.
Total Train Volumes
Total intermodal train volume fell 2.4% in May, “driven entirely by the decreases from Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC),” according to RailState. Total intermodal train volume on CN was 6.7% higher than April and train volume on CPKC fell 13.4% from April.
CN
CN moved an average of 4.65 trains per day, the highest daily average RailState has recorded. It was a 3.2% increase over April and a 19% increase from a year ago.
CN had a minor decline in the number of containers per train, averaging 311 containers per train, down 1.7% from April.
Travel times on CN are still higher than earlier in the year but have started to improve slightly. RailState’s network measures the 220-mile journey from Mission City, BC to Heffley, BC. After steady declines in travel time in April and early May, travel times ticked up at the end of the month. The seven-day moving average hit 16 hours at the end of May, up from 13 hours in the middle of the month.
CPKC
CPKC train volume dropped 13.4% in May and they ran slightly smaller trains—holding an average of 2.2% fewer containers per train.
Travel times on CPKC have been mostly consistent on the 243-mile journey from Mission City, BC to Chase, BC. CPKC intermodal trains have consistently completed this stretch in about 10 hours.
CPKC’s share of containers headed to the U.S. increased to 30.6% up from the 25% average over the previous six months.
Prince Rupert
Intermodal performance through Prince Rupert continued to grow in May. After hitting the highest levels RailState had recorded to date in April, with total container volume of 17,748, volume in May was 8.8% higher for a total container volume of 19,305. Volume in May was up 33% from May 2023.
Containers per train grew by 20 containers per train from April and daily train volume remained mostly unchanged (-1.8%).
In addition to movements out of the port regions, RailState also tracks containers as they move to their final destination, including across the U.S.-Canada border. The share of container volume headed to the U.S. out of Prince Rupert decreased in May to 34% from 49% in April. Container volume from the Port of Vancouver into the U.S. also decreased, falling to 13% from 21% in April.
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