Kansas City Southern posted profit that easily topped Wall Street's expectations on Tuesday, as the U.S. railroad benefited from surging demand to haul autos, agricultural commodities and other goods.

The company reported profit available to common shareholders of $34.6 million, or 34 cents per share, compared with earnings of $6.5 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

Factoring out one-time items, the company earned 55 cents per share, topping analysts' average estimates of 46 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 35.2 percent to $461.6 million.

Businesses shipped larger quantities of everything from commodities to consumer products in the second quarter, as the U.S. economy showed signs of recovering from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. That has boosted profit for companies ranging from Kansas City's larger rival Union Pacific Corp to package-delivery companies United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp .

The railroad experienced three weeks of service disruptions in Mexico this month -- following the quarter's end -- after flooding related to Hurricane Alex damaged some of its tracks around Monterrey. (Reuters)