Rail traffic in North America grew by 2% between January and May 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported .

According to the agency’s report, the rail volume in the first 18 weeks of the year was 12 million 468 thousand 690 wagons and intermodal units .

He specified that in that cycle, the segments that grew the most were grains with an increase of 13.7%, oil and petroleum products with an annual increase of 6%, as well as agricultural products with 8 percent.

Meanwhile, Mexican railways participated with 478,587 railcars, containers and intermodal trailers , which represented an increase of 16.3% compared to the same period last year.

The AAR specified that the segments that grew the most in traffic between Mexico and the United States were vehicles and parts, grains, intermodal and chemicals , to name a few.

Meanwhile, Canadians reported a cumulative rail traffic volume of 2,940,777 wagons, containers and trailers , a 0.2% year-on-year increase.

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Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) insisted that the merger between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) is unnecessary and would allow that company to handle almost 50% of freight rail traffic in the United States .

Keith Creel, president and chief executive of CPKC, said the railroads’ new application does not change the underlying reality and falls far short of meeting the standards set out in the Land Transportation Board’s (STB) updated 2001 rules on large mergers .

“A combined UP-NS could place nearly 50% of U.S. freight rail traffic in the hands of a single company that already has a troubled history—some very recent—of abusing market power to the detriment of American businesses and workers. None of this serves the public interest. None of this serves the interests of shippers. All of this puts our supply chains and our economy at unnecessary risk,” Creel said.

The executive recalled that on May 8, CPKC submitted comments on the integrity of the revised application, noting that UP and NS did not meet the STB’s specific requirements to submit a detailed analysis of the market impact based on their future projections of participation in rail traffic flows for major freight and corridors.

“This has led us to ask, did UP overlook this specific instruction from the STB? If not, does UP have something to hide? One thing is certain: this is emblematic of UP continuing to have its own interpretation of STB rules and orders, and how they apply to UP,” he commented.

In this regard, he opined that if the STB accepts the resubmitted request, it will carry out a rigorous regulatory evaluation and review.

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Rail freight between Mexico and the United States continues to decline, with a 6.5% decrease recorded during the first 28 weeks of the year compared to the same period in 2024 , according to information from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) .

The agency noted that the cumulative volume on Mexican railroads during that period was 671,292 intermodal wagons, containers, and trailers.

Of all the products moving between the two countries, only vehicles and parts, as well as various merchandise, achieved growth of 1.2% and 6.7% , respectively.

The rest of the sectors, including chemicals and grains, showed declines during the same period, as did intermodal units, with a slight decrease of 0.8 percent.

The AAR also detailed that Mexican railroads registered 15,875 loaded cars in the week ending July 12, which represented a 40.4% increase compared to the same period last year , as well as 10,661 intermodal units, a 12.6% increase in the cycle.

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