(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 26, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

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

· CP traffic levels dipped below 5,000 cars for the first time in three days, but continue to trend some 10% higher this week than last.

Loads Not Moving

· Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours declined on CN and spiked noticeably on CP overnight, now having returned above the 2,000-car threshold.

· CN has now reduced counts for two straight days and has brought these numbers down below 1,000 for the first time since mid-December.

· The increase on CP is likely a one day blip in what has been a fairly consistent downward trend in recent weeks, although time will inform this.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads rose again yesterday, exceeding 1,100 cars and surpassing the 1,000-car threshold for the 8th time in the last 10 days reflecting higher unloads at Vancouver and slightly lower unloads at Prince Rupert.

· Vessel line ups saw an improvement (-3) overnight with lower counts at both Vancouver (-2) and Prince Rupert (-1).

· 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 7,700 cars per day in this corridor — some 12% 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