06-07-2025
Lac-Mégantic: lessons still to be learned 12 years later, say residents
A man touches a stone monument in front of Ste-Agnes church following a memorial service for the 47 victims of an oil-filled train derailment a year ago, in Lac-Megantic, Que., Sunday, July 6, 2014. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)
Twelve years after the Lac-Mégantic tragedy, little progress has been made in improving rail transport around the town, according to the spokesperson for the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety in Lac-Mégantic.
Commemorations were held on Sunday morning in the municipality that was marked by a train derailment that killed 47 people on July 6, 2013.
While flowers were laid at the memorial site by municipal councillors, members of the Coalition placed flowers on the tracks where the train derailed.
According to Robert Bellefleur, spokesperson for the Coalition, hresidents of Lac-Mégantic have yet to begin healing.
On top of delays in the construction of the railway bypass, 'monster trains' on the railways is causing concern among the population.
'Before, trains had an average of about 80 cars. (...) Trains now have more than 200 cars, are over 15,000 feet long, and have large locomotives that often weigh more than 150 tons,' said Bellefleur.
'These railways were designed for much lighter and smaller trains, which means that the railway infrastructure is really under major additional pressure,' he said.
For her part, Federal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy in a statement. She assured that the bypass remained one of her priorities.
'This is the sixth transport minister to make the same statement. Meanwhile, the years are flying by,' Bellefleur responded.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French July 6, 2025.
Audrey Sanikopoulos, The Canadian Press
