Lac-Mégantic disaster anniversary: Advocates call for better rail safety

Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Que., Saturday, July 6, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

MONTREAL — As citizens of Lac-Mégantic, Que., marked the 12th anniversary of a rail disaster that killed 47 people when a runaway train derailed and smashed into downtown, an advocate warned that more needs to be done to ensure rail safety.

On Sunday, the town lowered flags to half-mast, laid flowers and organized a moment of silence to commemorate the July 6, 2013, tragedy.

Officials also asked that the rail company not run trains through the area out of respect for the victims.

But spokesman for a citizens’ rail safety group believes not enough has been done to ensure the town’s some 6,000 residents are safe from future disasters.

Robert Bellefleur says trains have become longer and heavier, while a long-promised bypass to divert them from the city’s core has not been built.

“Before, trains were about 80 wagons long on average...trains are now more than 200 wagons, are more than 15,000 feet long with big locomotives that often weigh more than 150 tonnes,” said Bellefleur, who is a spokesman for a group of citizens who are working ensure better rail safety in Lac-Mégantic

These “monster” trains are travelling on rails lines built between 1880 and 1920 “for trains that were much lighter and much smaller,” Bellefleur said.

He believes trains are more dangerous now than at the start of the 2000s, and “it’s not just Lac-Mégantic that’s at risk.”

In recent months, he said citizens have noticed wear and erosion around railway culverts near the town’s entrance, which is “nothing to reassure citizens,” Bellefleur said. The Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway sent workers to the site, he said.

In a statement, CPKC said the tracks are in good shape and well-maintained.

“The rail line running through Lac-Mégantic is safe for rail operations, as confirmed by numerous regular inspections, including one carried out on Saturday,” said company spokesperson André Hannoush in an email.

The 2013 derailment and fire destroyed much of the downtown core, forced about 2,000 people to evacuate their homes and spilled some six million litres of crude oil into the environment. The disaster happened when the brakes failed on a train parked in nearby Nantes and it barrelled down a slope and exploded in the heart of town.

In 2018, the federal and provincial governments committed to joint funding for a rail bypass to send trains around Lac-Mégantic’s downtown. While land expropriations took place in 2023, the Canadian Transportation Agency has yet to greenlight construction and has requested additional information on the project’s environmental impacts.

Some citizens in Lac-Mégantic and neighbouring communities have also become opposed to the bypass, citing concern with the route, cost and potential damage to wetlands and water supplies.

Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement on Sunday marking the anniversary, and saluting the courage of “an entire community that, year after year, continues to rebuild itself with dignity and resilience.”

She said the bypass was one of her priorities, and promised to work with the communities until it’s completed.

Bellefleur, for his part, said Freeland is the sixth federal transport minister to make such promises.

“In that time, the years go by,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2025.

Audrey Sanikopoulos and Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press