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Blockades that have crippled Canada’s rail network over the past few weeks are already proving a bigger hit on the economy than the CN strike in November, economists say.

Protesters have blocked rail lines across the country in support of the Wet’suwet’en opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in B.C. The most disruptive has been a blockade set up Feb. 6 on the Quebec to Windsor line near Belleville, Ont. which shut down CN’s eastern freight network and Via Rail’s passenger service.

Rail freight data for last week showed that traffic fell 18%, compared to the week before the blockades began, said Capital Economics senior Canada economist Stephen Brown. Since CN only completely shut down its eastern network at the end of last week, rail freight probably fell further this week.

The disruption has led to shortages of fuel and other supplies across the country, ramping up the pressure on the Canadian government to resolve the crisis. But even if the blockades are lifted in the next few days and rail service returns to normal, Capital estimates freight traffic will be down 10% to 15% in February.