(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.

April 21, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· Traffic levels were largely unchanged overnight, remaining above 13,000 cars for the third straight day.

· The strength of the system traffic volume continues to be positively influenced by traffic volumes in the Thunder Bay corridor which continue to ramp up — more than 3,000 cars today representing approximately 23% of total system volumes.

Loads Not Moving

· Loads sitting idle for more than 48 hours declined overnight and, on a system basis, have now returned below 2,200 cars.

· The overnight change reflects improvement for both CN and CP. CP counts are now at their lowest level in nearly two weeks. CN counts remain high at nearly 1,500 cars, almost double the levels seen only four days ago.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads declined somewhat yesterday, falling below the 1,000-car mark for the first time in seven days. This reflects lower unloads at Vancouver and a slight uptick in unloads at Prince Rupert yesterday.

· Vessel line ups rose slightly (+1) yesterday, reflecting an increase at Prince Rupert and no change at Vancouver, now 30 in total.

· Five vessels are now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 21 are currently scheduled to arrive at Vancouver over the next two weeks.

For more information, go to www.agtransportcoalition.com

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