Crop and shale boom slows American rails Transportation of wheat and other key commodities across western US and Canada has slowed sharply as a bumper harvest, booming shale oil shipments and severe winter weather have all combined to snarl rail freight movements. The logjam has hit both of Canada's two major railroads - Canadian National and Canadian Pacific - but has particularly affected BNSF, the operator of North America's second-biggest rail freight network. BNSF, part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, said it was "working aggressively" to return service to the level customers expected. Canadian National said it was committed to "working closely with its grain customers to improve service," while Canadian Pacific said it was engaged in an "ongoing, week-by-week process" with customers to determine how best to handle surging traffic. The congestion is the first to hit the network on such a large scale since the economic downturn, when traffic on North America's railroads was reduced sharply following previous capacity problems which the system faced in the middle of last decade. All three affected railroads move significant quantities of North America's grain harvest to Pacific ports and the Mississippi River system and have been struggling to cope with a far larger than normal crop. Canadian National said this year's Canadian wheat harvest was 43 per cent bigger than the five-year average, while the canola bean harvest was 35 per cent above average. The affected railroads all belong to the exclusive group of seven major rail networks, known as Class I, that dominate the industry in the US and Canada. BNSF and CP are also among the biggest transporters of crude from North Dakota's fast-growing Bakken Shale oil producing region, while all three companies have experienced strong growth in demand to move products such as cars. The surge in activity has been particularly concentrated in the parts of the western US that BNSF serves. The company says that last year alone it experienced 50 per cent of the traffic growth on the whole US rail freight network. Service has also worsened this month as the US and Canada have grappled with sometimes record-breaking low temperatures as well as snow and ice storms. The average speed of trains on CN's network in the week ending January 17 fell to 24.2mph, 11 per cent slower than the equivalent week of 2013, while BNSF's average speed that week fell 1.5 per cent, to 23.1mph. "You're at a peak period that's close to as busy as the agriculture products rail system has ever been," Anthony Hatch, an independent rail analyst, said. There will be periodic shortages of equipment that's capable of handling grain traffic. BNSF said that, during 2013, its northern corridor route received more of its $4bn capital spending than any other part of its network, but that the work to install new sidings and second tracks had added to the disruption. The company planned to invest "just as aggressively" in capacity expansion this year, with extra attention again to the congested corridor. "These capital investments will help increase capacity and improve network fluidity," the company said. As these investments continue to come online, we anticipate continued improvement.