The Association of American Railroads compiles and distributes information on North American freight railroads including finances, operations, performance, input cost indexes, traffic and more.

Rail traffic is a useful gauge of the health of the economy and financial information allows stock analysts, economists, government agencies, and academics to analyze the health and efficiency of the railroads. Useful data like these are contained in a variety of AAR statistical products, which are free for AAR members and are available for purchase by non-AAR members through AAR’s online catalog. A sample of weekly, monthly, and annual rail traffic data is available for free here.