(Daily updates will be available on the Alberta Pulse Growers website.)

Pulse Canada and the CSCA are partners of the Ag Transport Coalition (ATC)*, which tracks performance of the Canadian railway network for the movement of grain.

A daily report has been created to provide stakeholders with insight on the performance of the Canadian rail system as it attempts to remain resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues recovering from a series of physical network disruptions in the months of January and February 2020.

March 27, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Traffic levels were down slightly on a system basis yesterday for the third consecutive day, reflecting an increase on CP and lower volumes on CN.

· CP traffic levels rose above 5,000 cars for the third time in the last four days.

Loads Not Moving

· Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours declined on CN and CP, and now have once again fallen below the 2000-car threshold.

· CN has now reduced counts for three straight days and has brought these numbers down below 800 for the first time since mid-December.

· The decline on CP reverses an increase seen yesterday, but remains above the 1,000 car threshold.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads rose again yesterday, exceeding 1,300 cars, the highest level seen in the last three months.

· Vessel line ups saw an improvement (-2) overnight with lower counts at Vancouver (-2), while Prince Rupert remains unchanged since yesterday.

· With only 1 scheduled arrival at Prince Rupert over the next two weeks, and despite lower traffic volumes destined to the Port, it is expected that further improvement in this area is realistic. Vancouver continues to see a nice uptick in volumes destined to the Port, now averaging nearly 7,600 cars per day in this corridor — some 10% higher than last week.

All daily resiliency reports are available on the Pulse Canada website.

*The Ag Transportation Coalition is comprised of the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), Pulse Canada, Manitoba Pulse Growers Association (MPGA), Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, Inland Terminal Association of Canada (ITAC) and the Canadian Special Crops Association (CSCA).

For more information, go to www.agtransportcoalition.com