“We adopted this resolution to remind the [railroad of its] commitments and to make additional requests that we consider essential for the safety of the citizens of Lac-Mégantic,” says Mayor Colette Roy Laroche.
Among the restrictions put on trains moving hazardous materials through town are that the train can move no faster than 10 miles per hour; that there always be a two man crew on board; that any train parked on a siding be secured with a derail; and that no train be left without supervision.
Although towns do not have control over what type of materials go through their communities, the railroad and its predecessor, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, have agreed to not run hazardous materials, especially crude oil, through the town without its permission.
Prior to the July 2013 explosion, which leveled more than 30 buildings and killed 47 people, the line through Lac-Mégantic was a major route for propane into Maine. However, because of a particularly harsh winter and the MM&A through Lac-Mégantic being closed, propane rates rose last winter.
The MM&A, which operated the doomed oil train, went bankrupt within a month of the accident. Earlier this year the railroad was sold and became CM&Q.
Lac-Mégantic was founded in 1884 when the Canadian Pacific began building its International Railway of Maine connecting Montreal and the Atlantic Providences. Lac-Mégantic was a division point and, even into the MM&A era, was a crew change spot where westbound trains traded their American crews for Canadian ones and vice versa. It was also the interchange between the CP and the Quebec Central Railway, which traveled north to Quebec City.
Providences, eh?
I like that part about trains parked upgrade being secured with a derail. Talk about hindsight 20/20.
I worked on the Bangor and Aroostook railroad from 1952-1996 and when iron road took over I went through there many times now im 80 and there's not much of the bar left no equipment and the railroad virtually ruined it sad for me and the fine men I worked with.
Trains traveled on the Quebec Central but I doubt the Railway traveled anywhere except into abandonment.
It's a start in building trust…