UPDATE 3-Canadian Pacific traffic, profit fall

* First-quarter EPS C$0.34 vs C$0.59

* Revenue falls to C$1.07 bln from C$1.15 bln

* Plans to cut 2009 capital spending (Updates with conference call)

By Susan Taylor and Allan Dowd

OTTAWA/VANCOUVER, April 23 (Reuters) - Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (CP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported a 31 percent decline in first-quarter profit on Thursday, as the global economic downturn badly hurt freight traffic volume, and said it plans to cut 2009 capital spending by close to 10 percent

The carrier was hit by sharp declines in shipments of automobiles, coal and potash, forcing it to continue idling cars, locomotives and employees as it pushes ahead with long-term measures such as consolidating locomotive-repair operations and closing some smaller freight yards.

Like other North American railways, CP saw its car loadings drop sharply, but chief executive Fred Green said it also got stung because it was its long-haul business, such as potash, that took the larger hit.

"We have a somewhat unique situation in that our length of haul, translating into RTM (revenue ton-miles), is substantially different than what has occurred elsewhere. It will also rebound equally quickly when those long-haul corridors come back," Green told analysts.

Green said Canadian Pacific's RTM was down about 22 percent, which compares with a drop of 14 percent in the same quarter at rival Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO: Quote, Profile, Research).