LAC MÉGANTIC, Que. – Transport Canada cannot say if the section of the broken rail near downtown Lac-Mégantic meets safety standards. The track was repaired last week, but a group of citizens remain concerned as the city prepares to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

Since 2015, Robert Bellefleur has been monitoring the condition of the rails in his community, where ten years ago a convoy carrying 72 wagons full of crude oil derailed, killing 47 people.

The spokesman for the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety scheduled an appointment with The Canadian Press near a Canadian Pacific (CP) track in late May, about two kilometers from downtown Lac-Mégantic.

“I’m not an engineer, but you don’t have to be an engineer to understand that this track is worn to the max, the metal slats are frayed,” Robert Bellefleur suggests, showing the cracked track.

The coalition of citizens he represents claims to have frequently noticed rails in poor condition near downtown Lac-Mégantic since the 2013 tragedy and fears another derailment will cause more casualties.

The Canadian Press interview is interrupted when Robert Bellefleur receives a call from a CP officer.

The conversation was polite and the policeman informed the citizen that he had recently been seen near the railway on the CP site in a place considered unsafe.

Mr Bellefleur uses this conversation to warn the police officer that “a rail in the sector, which has to carry monster trains with more than 200 wagons and tanks, is worn to the limit”.

The police officer asks the citizen to send him photos and promises to report the matter to those responsible for control.

Five days later, CP squads were on site to replace the section of rail identified by Robert Bellefleur as problematic.

“It shouldn’t be up to citizens to do this inspection work,” the spokesman for the citizens’ group told The Canadian Press after the track’s rehabilitation, adding that “it underscores the need for a monitoring role” for his group. given the inaction and relaxation of Transport Canada’s public protection role.”

Transport Canada cannot say if the rail meets standards

In an email exchange, Transport Canada assures that it has “significantly increased its monitoring program” and that since the 2013 tragedy the department has “implemented stricter measures and requirements to protect communities”.

The Canadian press sent Transport Canada photos of the track, which they deemed problematic, with their location.

The news agency asked the ministry responsible for enforcing railway safety regulations whether the rail met safety standards before it was replaced.

A ministry spokesman replied that “the section of rail shown in the photo is not sufficient to determine whether the rail meets the safety standards of the line” and that safety requirements “depend, among other things, on train speed (track class)”. and annual gross tonnage carried on the route’.

This response does not reassure Robert Bellefleur, who claims he is used to “receiving such bureaucratic ‘sticky tongue’ type replies from Transport Canada”.

The spokesman for the citizens’ group added that while trains are not allowed to go faster than 16 kilometers per hour in this area, they carry dangerous substances such as propane and that the rail is at the “entrance of a big curve in the sector where the trains travel”. . The slope is maximum and this near a residential area and the Polyvalente Montignac.

The Canadian press also asked Transport Canada about reports of rail inspections carried out in the Lac Mégantic area over the past six months, and the department replied that it “does not make inspection reports available to the public because they contain information from third parties”. . Case railway companies like Canadian Pacific.

CP claims there is no security issue

In an email exchange, the CP executive for government affairs and communications explained that “the photo shows the wear or ‘flow’ of the rail on the side of the track that doesn’t make contact with the wheel” and that “it is not a defect.” or a safety issue”.

Stacey Patenaude added, “Although the track identified was fully compliant, this section of rail has been replaced.”

The Canadian press asked CP why the track section was changed even though it was compliant, but the company did not respond.

According to Canadian Pacific, “the track in and around Nantes is regularly inspected visually and in excess of legal standards for internal defects” by the “technical department to ensure compliance with Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s high safety standards.”

Broken rails

Over the years, the coalition of citizens and organizations working to ensure rail safety in Lac-Mégantic have developed a distrust of Transport Canada and the rail companies, apparently due to safety-related deficiencies identified in multiple investigations that led to the tragedy 2013

But even after 2013, issues related to the safety of trains carrying dangerous goods and the condition of the tracks in the Lac-Mégantic were a cause for concern.

For example, on May 7, 2019, Transport Canada Rail Safety Inspector Jean-René Gagnon issued a “Notice of Order” to Central Maine and Quebec Railway (CMQR), the company that owns the stretch of rail that runs through the city of Lac-Mégantic before CP acquired it.

In this public document, the railway safety inspector writes that after visual inspections between Farnham and Lac-Mégantic he observed “several urgent situations and concerns which required immediate repairs” including the wear of the rails and “that the number of broken rails has increased”. . in 2019 “is alarming”.

The document also states that the number of defective rails reported by ultrasonic vehicles was 253 in 2018, 185 in 2017, 175 in 2016 and 115 in 2015.

On September 3, 2019, the Citizens’ Coalition had formally requested former Transport Minister Marc Garneau to halt the transport of dangerous goods between Farnham and Lac-Mégantic until this section of railway was repaired.

Three days later, Minister Garneau issued a ministerial order requiring the CMQR to restore the Farnham-Lac-Mégantic railway line, after which the company had rectified the 253 deficiencies along the approximately 200-kilometer corridor.