Canada's railways carried 72.3 million passengers in 2008, an increase of 6.5 percent over 2007, and others hauled 237.3 billion revenue ton miles of freight, down 4.2 percent, during the year, according to figures released on Dec. 1 by the Railway Association of Canada (RAC).
"Canada's railways are an economic engine for the economy," said Cliff Mackay, president and chief executive officer of the Railway Association of
Containers in domestic and international service were the fastest growing rail freight commodity segment. Minerals, fuels and chemicals, agricultural products and metals were the leading commodities for carload revenue.
The number of rail commuters in British Columbia, Ontario and
There were 1,266 freight railway-related accidents in 2008, 229 less than in 2007, according to Transportation Safety Board results involving federally and provincially-regulated railways. The number of accidents, based on the industry's workload, declined to 2.8 accidents per billion gross ton miles.