Early work to begin on project to divert trains from downtown Lac-Megantic

LAC-MEGANTIC, Qc -

A decade after the deadly Lac-Megantic train disaster, work on the project to divert trains from the downtown core is set to begin, despite divisions in the community over the proposed route.

Federal Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez visited the town on Friday to announce that two important agreements have been signed for the project, first promised in 2018.

Rodriguez said two deals have been signed to launch the first call for tenders: one between Ottawa and the town of Lac-Megantic and another between the federal government and the Central Maine & Quebec Railway Inc., a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

"We want to move ahead," Rodriguez told reporters, noting that trains carrying dangerous cargo are still passing through the town. "So the people, the same people that survived and lived that tragedy, are seeing and hearing the same train every day, and that has to stop."

On July 6, 2013, a runaway train carrying crude oil barrelled into the heart of the town and exploded, killing 47 people.

In 2018, Ottawa and Quebec announced joint funding for a 12.5-kilometre rail bypass to divert trains carrying dangerous goods away from the heart of the town of about 6,000 residents located roughly 200 kilometres east of Montreal.

Ottawa will cover 60 per cent of the total cost with Quebec paying the rest. The cost was initially pegged at $133 million, but Rodriguez said it will be "far higher" -- though he could not provide a figure.

Rodriguez told reporters that the agreement with the municipality allows it to begin preparatory work, including reconstruction and relocation of municipal infrastructure.

The second agreement with the rail company permits the tendering process to start for the selection of the firm that will build the bypass. But authorities were not able to say how long that will take.

Residents of Lac-Megantic and surrounding towns are divided on the project, with some saying the new route has more curves than the old one and could lead to derailments.

"We are not moving forward, we are going backwards," said landowner Raymond Lafontaine of Lac-Megantic, who lost a son and two daughters-in-law in the 2013 tragedy.

Earlier this year, the federal government went ahead with expropriations needed to build the bypass, taking possession of the lands on Aug. 1.

"It's political, it's stubbornness, it's dictatorial," said Lafontaine, who said the sum he received for his expropriated lands was inadequate. The proposed bypass "is not the right solution, it is inconceivable," he added.

An injunction request from residents opposed to the bypass will be heard later this month, but Rodriguez said he is confident the government's case is solid.

"It's a difficult process, I understand the people who are experiencing the expropriation are unhappy and that there is pain too, we are listening to them," Rodriguez said. "We hear them, but we must move forward."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 6, 2023.