U.S. rail traffic declines after storms, line closures

U.S. rail traffic declines after storms, line closures    U.S. railroads' rail freight traffic declined during the week ended Jan. 22, in comparison with the corresponding week a year ago, at least partly due to winter storms.
   The Association of American Railroads reported that railroads moved 29.3 billion ton-miles of freight during the week ended Jan. 22, 4 percent less than the comparable week a year ago. Carload freight also declined 4 percent to 316.569 cars, with loadings down 2 percent in the U.S. East and down 6 percent in the West.
   In spite of the continued closure of some rail lines out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, rose 5 percent in the week under review, totaling 206,838 trailers or containers.