By Colin Kellaher 



  North American rail traffic fell 12.7% last week but showed further sequential improvement as an economy frozen by the coronavirus pandemic continues to reopen, data from the Association of American Railroads showed. 


  Carload volume dropped 19.7% for the week ended June 20 on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads, while intermodal traffic fell 6%, the trade group said Wednesday. 


  In the week ended June 13, North American rail traffic fell 14.4%. For the first 25 weeks of the year, North American traffic is down 11.9%. 


  Kansas City Southern, which operates railroads in the U.S. and Mexico, on Tuesday said that while the second quarter has been challenging as a result of the pandemic, volumes have been improving. The company said carloads have improved by 31% since bottoming in early May, but that they remain 8% below pre-pandemic levels. 


  The AAR said U.S. rail traffic fell 12.9% last week, with carloads tumbling 21.8% and the volume of intermodal containers and trailers off 4.4%. U.S. rail traffic is down 13.2% for the year to date, the AAR said. 


  Canadian rail traffic fell 11.6% last week, as carloads fell 14.9% and intermodal units fell 7.7%. Canadian rail traffic is down 8% for the first 25 weeks of the year. 


  Mexican rail traffic fell 13.7% for the week, amid a 7% fall in carloads and a 21.5% drop in intermodal units. Mexican rail traffic is now down 10.2% for the year, the AAR said. 


  Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com