WASHINGTON — Led by a major increase in carload volume, U.S. rail traffic showed a big jump for the week ending Feb. 25, gaining 10.7% from the same week last year.
According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week was 507,712 carloads and intermodal units. That included 227,124 carloads, an increase of 17.6% over the corresponding week in 2025, and 280,588 containers and trailers, a gain of 5.8%. The carload gain was led by grain traffic, which jumped 49.7% from the same week a year ago. Last week, grain was up 41.6%, helping account for a 7.7% increase in carloads [see “U.S. rail traffic rebounds …,” Trains.com, Feb. 19, 2026].
For the year to date, total traffic is 3,436,876 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8% from the first seven weeks of 2025. Included in the overall figures are 1,524,373 carloads, up 5.3%, and 1,912,503 intermodal units, down 0.8%.
North American traffic for the week , as reported by nine U.S., Canadian, and Mexican railroads, totaled 330,836 carloads, up 15.6% from the same week a year ago, and 364,182 intermodal units, up 9.3%. The combined total of 695,018 carloads and intermodal units is an increase of 12.2%. Through seven weeks of 2026, the North American volume of 4,730,362 carloads and intermodal units is a gain of 2.6% compared to the same period in 2025.
Canadian traffic for the week was 90,075 carloads, an increase of 14% over the same week a year ago, and 68,824 intermodal units, up 22.8%. Year-to-date traffic in Canada is 1,106,192 carloads and intermodal units, up 2% over 2025. In Mexico, volume of 13,637 carloads was a decline of 2.8% from the same week a year ago, while the 14,770 intermodal units were an increase of 24.5%. So far in 2026, Mexican railroads have moved 187,294 carloads and intermodal. Units, a gain of 23.5% from the first seven weeks of 2025.
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