US rail traffic has reported 5.7% increase in rail traffic during the week ending 2 April 2011 compared with the same week last year, recording 305,905 carloads, according to a report by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

According to the report, intermodal railroads volume also increased 19.4% during the same week in 2010, totalling 234,308 trailers and containers - the highest carload total recorded since 2008.

The weekly carload volume on the Eastern railroads jumped to 5% whereas in the West, it was up 6.1% in comparison to the same last year.

For the first 13 weeks of this year, US railroads recorded a cumulative volume of 3,773,949 carloads, a rise of 5.1%, and 2,856,227 trailers and containers, up 8.7% compared with the same period in 2010.

Canadian railroads showed 78,728 carloads during the week, which is a rise of 11% and 46,612 trailers and containers, also a jump of 11.1% as against last year.

The combined North American rail volume for the first 13 weeks of 2011 on 13 US, Canadian and Mexican railroads amounted to 4,896,153 carloads, a rise of 4.2% compared with 2010 while it escalated to 7.9% with 3,536,677 trailers and containers as against 2010.