Rail freight traffic in the Americas 2006–2019

Railroads carried 2.5 trillion tonne-kilometers of freight in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, and Uruguay in 2019. In the same year, global rail freight traffic came to over nine trillion tonne-kilometers.

Transporting goods in North America

Altogether, Canada’s Via Rail and the U.S. companies AAR and BNSF make up the rail freight industry in North America. Projections made before the coronavirus outbreak revealed that demand for cargo transportation via the U.S. railroad network should grow steadily over the next decades; however, such projections will need to be adjusted accordingly. For example, intermodal freight volume in the U.S. fluctuated considerably between the months following the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020. Furthermore, the closure of the border between the U.S. and Canada is expected to worsen demand for freight and passenger transportation for the year 2020.

Rail investment as a response to economic crises

In the aftermath of Covid-19, Brazil expects investment in its infrastructure to be at the core of its economic recovery. Considered one of the rapidly developing BRICS countries – along with Russia, China, South Africa, and India – Brazil is set to welcome one of the largest rail infrastructure projects in the world. The Chinese-funded Pará railway project seeks to construct a rail network spanning roughly 1,312 kilometers from Santana do Araguaia to Barcarena to boost significant growth in Brazil’s freight rail industry – particularly by transporting iron core.