(The Canadian Press circulated the following article on January 5.)
OTTAWA — Railway operating revenues grew in 2004 at their fastest pace in five years as carriers benefited from a strong economy and reaped gains from an upsurge in exports and imports, Statistics Canada said Thursday.
The country’s freight and passenger carriers recorded operating revenues of nearly $8.9 billion, up 6.9 per cent from 2003 and more than five times the rate of growth in revenues the year before, the agency said.
Freight transportation accounted for about 89 per cent of revenue, hitting about $7.9 billion for a 7.3 per cent gain, nearly six times the pace of growth in the previous year.
Operating expenses rose 4.3 per cent to almost $7 billion, primarily the result of higher costs for rail operations, Statistics Canada said.
Canada’s major rail carriers held on to their shares of the market, with Canadian National Railway Co. at 48 per cent, followed by Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. at 37%.
Passenger service VIA Rail accounted for nearly 5 per cent of revenues, while regional and short-line railways shared the remaining 10 per cent.
The revenue gains were driven by an economic rebound in 2004 as economic output increased 2.8 per cent, compared with 1.7 per cent the year before, while exports went up 5 per cent despite the rising value of the loonie and imports surged 6 per cent.
During the year, the economy created nearly 285,000 full-time jobs.
Average annual employment with the railways fell 1.6 per cent to 35,694 in 2004, the lowest level in the past 100 years.
The decline was due mainly to reorganization and staff reductions for the three mainline companies. Regional and short-haul railways recorded a slight one per cent gain in their workforce. The average annual salary in 2004 was almost $66,000.
CN accounted for 42 per cent of all employees in the railway transport industry, the largest share. VIA Rail had just under 9 per cent.
Coal was still the main commodity, with railways carrying more than 30.7 million tonnes, up 7.5 per cent from the previous year on high international demand.
Wheat shipments rose 23.4 per cent in 2004 to nearly 19.8 million tonnes as there was no major drought in 2004 compared to those suffered in certain regions of the country in 2002 and 2003.
Potash shipments rose 12.7 per cent to 16.6 million tonnes, resulting partially from higher demand from Brazil and East Asia. Lumber shipments were up 19.3 per cent to 13.7 million tonnes, a result of continuous demand for lumber.
The only commodity in the top 10 to record a decline in shipments was iron ore and concentrates, which plunged 19 per cent to about 15.8 million tonnes.