RailState, the rail industry’s only provider of real-time rail network visibility, independently tracks all freight rail movements across Canada and provides a unique understanding of what’s actually moving on the system that has been unavailable from any other source.
At 12:01am this morning, the work stoppage on CN and CPKC began and RailState’s network captured the immediate impact. Over the first 15 hours, train movements across the entire CN and CPKC Canadian networks dropped from more than 725 train movements on an average day to about 60 total across the network.
A system that normally moves an average of C$1Billion worth of goods each day fell off a cliff.
Late in the afternoon, the Minister of Labour called for binding arbitration to end the stoppage and directed a resumption of service. As of 6:00pm EST, RailState has not captured new train movements and will be monitoring the network in real-time to understand what shape a return to work takes and how quickly.
Quick Impact on Exports
The dropoff in volumes at major ports was sharp and fast. From August 1-21, the average daily train volume by train type inbound into the Port of Vancouver was:
- Coal: 4.5
- Grain: 3.1
- Intermodal: 5.0
- Manifest: 3.0
- Tank Car Unit: 0.3
- Potash: 1.1
- Other: 2.6
So far today, only 4 trains total have moved to the Port of Vancouver.
At the Port of Prince Rupert, the average daily train volume has been:
- Coal: 1.0
- Grain: 1.0
- Intermodal: 2.0
- Manifest: 1.0
- Tank Car Unit: 1.4
- Other: 0.3
So far today, no trains have entered the port.
Continuous Updates
RailState will provide additional updates on the impact of this stoppage and how a return to work impacts different regions and industries.
Subscribe here to receive these free reports as they are released. For shippers, analysts, and others looking for more information on rail network visibility and navigating rail operations during this and other disruptions, please reach out to contact@railstate.com.
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