CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Railway says it moved a record quantity of grain in the final three months of 2019.
The Calgary-based railway says it moved 7.9 million tonnes of grain and grain products, breaking a record set in the fourth quarter of 2018 by 400,000 tonnes.
The company says it set a all-time monthly record in November by moving 2.74 million tonnes, October was the second-best month at 2.66 million tonnes and it had its best December with 2.5 million tonnes.
As of Dec. 31, CP Rail moved 12.17 million tonnes of grain for the 2019-2020 crop year, up 2.1 per cent from the prior year.
The 2019 calendar year, which includes two crop years, had a record 27 million tonnes of grain.
Canada’s second-largest railway had more than 2,170 new high-capacity hopper cars that can carry 44 per cent more grain and plans to have 3,300 by the end of 2020. The company plans to spend about $500 million on acquiring 5,900 new hopper cars over four years.
“2019 has been a banner year for CP and the Canadian grain supply chain despite the challenging economic and environmental conditions,” said Joan Hardy, CP’s vice-president sales and marketing, grain and fertilizers.