The Big Four U.S. Class I railroads all showed year-over-year traffic growth in 2024, while Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City experienced volume declines.
Looking longer term, however, CSX is the only railroad whose 2024 volume rebounded to pre-pandemic levels of 2019. CSX’s traffic was up 0.6% last year compared to 2019, due largely to gains in intermodal and chemicals business.
Traffic dropped precipitously at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although there was initially a sharp rebound in volume, overall freight demand remained muted due to lingering supply chain disruptions and the shift of consumer spending to experiences rather than goods.
The other Class I systems have yet to return to pre-pandemic volumes, with Union Pacific down 2.7%; BNSF down 6.5%; Norfolk Southern down 7.1%; Canadian National down 9.5%; and Canadian Pacific Kansas City down 14.3% (compared to the combined pre-merger volumes for Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern).
Overall North American rail freight volume is down 4.4% since 2019, according to Association of American Railroads data. Carload traffic is down 7.8%; intermodal declined 0.92%; and coal sank 24%.
Absent coal – which remains the single largest carload segment – overall North American carload volume is down 2.6% since 2019.
For 2024, BNSF led the pack with a year-over-year gain of 6% thanks to its industry leading 16% growth in intermodal volume. NS was the runner up, with 4% growth last year.
CSX and Union Pacific both notched 2% year-over-year gains, while CN and CPKC volume was dented by labor disruptions at the railways and Canadian ports. CN volume was down 1%, while CPKC’s was off by 4%.
It was another disappointing year for Powder River Basin coal traffic due to a combination of low natural gas prices, high coal stockpiles, and retirements of coal-fired power plants. UP’s coal volume sank 21%, while BNSF’s was down 18%.
Coal volume held up better in the East, where metallurgical coal shipments helped offset the decline of thermal coal. CSX’s coal volume declined 3%, while Norfolk Southern’s was up 0.4%. Coal volume dropped 11% on both CN and CPKC, which handle mostly metallurgical coal used in steelmaking.
