Lac-Mgantic residents press for rail bypass on 3-year anniversary of disaster

Three years after a freight train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in Lac-Mgantic, residents are renewing calls for a rail line that circumvents the town.

There have been promisesto build a bypass by2021-2022, but a local safety group says it should happen sooner.

• Lac-Mgantic study proposes almost 12 km of new track to skirt town

"The train still goes throughdowntown with tanks filled with dangerous products," saidRobertBellefleur, spokesman for acitizens' coalition for rail safety.

"Everyone is still afraid ofthe train."

Bellefleur called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard to move swiftly to make the bypass happen.

Trudeaumade no mention of a bypass, but said the country is working toward improving rail safety.

"We remember you and all that you lost, and will use this memory to strengthen our resolve to make our railroads the safest in the world, and ensure the tragic events of Lac-Mgantic never happen again," Trudeau said in a statement.

Bellefleur made the comments at a morning news conference in Nantes, Que., where the train carryingcrude oil was parked on July 6, 2013 before it rolled into Lac-Mgantic and destroyed much of itsdowntown core.

In all, 47 people were killed in the disaster.

Residents helda noon ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the disaster, where church bells rang47 times, oncefor each victim.

Struggling to move forward

Restoration work in the town is underway followingthe demolition of damaged structures and removal of contaminated soil.

Infrastructure projects currently being built include electricity, communications and sewers. Frontenac Street, at the town's centre, is expected to reopen this fall.

StphaneLavalle,director of theLac-MganticReconstruction Office, said "the best way to honour the ones who died is to move forward."

Montreal, Maine &Atlantic Railway filed for bankruptcy after the tragedy. Three men, including Tom Harding,the train's conductor, are each facing 47 counts of criminal negligence causing death.

The new owner of the tracks, the Bangor, Maine-based Central Maine &QuebecRailroad, spent millions of dollars to improve safety before resuming shipments of hazardous materials in the fall of 2014.

As it stands, trains are limited to 16 kilometres per hourwhile travelling through town.

But no crude oil has moved through Lac-Mgantic since the tragedy. Central Maine &QuebecCEO John Giles has promised to visit Lac-Mgantic to talk to residents about safety when oil shipments eventually resume.

Giles said the railroad's business is growing but that the funding for a bypass would have to come from the province and from the Canadian government. The small railroad doesn't have millions of dollars to invest on the project, he said.

• Faces of theLac-Mgantictragedy
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