Analysts: Rail traffic should keep improving Kansas City Business Journal Even though the railroad industry’s traffic dropped for the fifth consecutive week, Kansas City Southern rolled to stronger volumes, and analysts expect the industry to end the year on a strong note. Week 48 traffic for the industry dropped 5.3 percent, a slight improvement compared to 5.8 percent the week before and flat with two weeks before, according to a Monday note from Dahlman Rose & Co. LLC analysts. “Looking forward, we believe that volume improvement is likely to continue over the next few weeks with changes in rail traffic possibly turning positive in any given week in the remainder of the year, especially in weeks 50 and 51,” the note said. Kansas City Southern’s (NYSE: KSU) volume rose 10.1 percent during the week, compared to 2.8 percent in the prior week. Its Mexico subsidiary’s volume lifted 1.1 percent, compared to 3.2 percent in the prior week, the note said. For the third quarter, the Kansas City-based company reported earnings of $25.8 million, down 47 percent from $48.9 million during the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter was $386.1 million, down 21 percent from $491.5 million last year. Kansas City Southern ranks No. 11 on the Kansas City Business Journal’s list of area public companies.
