MONTREAL -- Canadian National Railway Co. moved a record 2.81 million tonnes of grain for April, slightly ahead of CP Rail's record volume for the month.

The country's largest railway says the movement included 2.73 million tonnes from Western Canada, which exceeded the three-year average of 2.55 million tonnes for April.

The Montreal-based railway's all-time monthly record was 2.89 million tonnes of Canadian grain last October.

For the first quarter, it transported 6.86 million tonnes of grain, including 6.59 million tonnes from Canadian western grain. Its best quarterly tonnage was 7.01 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2017.

CN Rail has moved 21.55 million tonnes of grain from the 2019-2020 crop year, with 20.7 million tonnes coming from Western Canada.

Canadian Pacific Railway says it moved 21.4 million tonnes during the same period, including a record 2.8 million tonnes in April.