Early on 6 July 2013 an unattended Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway crude oil train rolled away from Nantes, Quebec, and derailed in downtown Lac-Mégantic, where the fires and explosions that followed killed 47 people. The Transportation Safety Board found 18 contributing factors, including the railway's weak safety culture and gaps in federal oversight. Three employees were acquitted of criminal negligence in 2018, a 460 million Canadian dollar settlement fund was paid through bankruptcy proceedings, and courts found Canadian Pacific not liable.
Canadian Pacific's win in the civil litigation stands after the Supreme Court of Canada declined in May 2026 to hear an appeal. The Canadian Transportation Agency approved the 12.5 km rail bypass in July 2026, and Transport Canada said in August 2026 that land transfers and a further regulatory approval were still needed before construction could begin, with no start date given.
The TSB said Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train MMA-002 stopped on the main track at Nantes at 2249:37 Eastern Daylight Time on 5 July (02:49 UTC on 6 July) by its event recorder. Seven hand brakes were applied, including on the buffer car, and a taxi arrived for the locomotive engineer at about 2330 EDT, according to the report.
A 911 call at 2340 EDT (03:40 UTC) reported a fire on the lead locomotive, MMA 5017, the TSB said. The engine was shut down at 2358:42 EDT (03:58 UTC) as part of the response, after which, the TSB said, air pressure in the locomotive brakes slowly dropped.
The TSB said the train began moving downhill toward Lac-Mégantic at 0058:21 EDT (04:58 UTC), according to the event recorder, because the hand brakes alone could not hold it on the grade.
At about 0115 EDT (05:15 UTC), travelling at 65 mph, the train derailed in Lac-Mégantic, the TSB said. Sixty three tank cars and two box cars left the track, about 6 million litres of crude oil was released, and the fires and explosions that followed killed 47 people and destroyed 40 buildings and 53 vehicles. About 2,000 people were evacuated.
Transport Canada issued a first directive on 23 July 2013 with requirements on the operation of trains carrying dangerous goods, train securement and braking procedures, an assistant deputy minister told a House of Commons committee in June 2014.
The TSB sent Transport Canada recommendations on the vulnerability of Class 111 tank cars (R14-01), route planning for trains carrying dangerous goods (R14-02) and emergency response assistance plans (R14-03).
The TSB released a laboratory analysis of crude oil from tank cars of the train that did not derail and of a second train from the same origin. It said test results indicated the hazard posed by the oil was not accurately documented.
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced that the least crash resistant older tank cars, about 5,000 in service, would be barred from carrying crude oil or ethanol within 30 days and that other older cars must be phased out by May 2017, Reuters reported. Transport Canada's assistant deputy minister later told MPs the measures responded to interim TSB recommendations.
Quebec prosecutors charged Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, locomotive engineer Thomas Harding, rail traffic controller Richard Labrie and operations manager Jean Demaître with 47 counts each of criminal negligence causing death, RTÉ reported. The three men had been arrested the previous day. The railway's chairman was not charged.
The TSB's final report found 18 factors contributed to the accident. It said MMA had a weak safety culture and no functioning safety management system, that a hand brake test was done with the locomotive air brakes still applied, and that Transport Canada did not audit MMA often or thoroughly enough.
The TSB called for additional physical defences to prevent runaway trains (R14-04) and for Transport Canada to take a more hands on role auditing railways' safety management systems (R14-05).
A US bankruptcy judge in Portland, Maine, approved the plan for a victims' settlement fund, CBC News reported. Canadian Pacific did not contribute, saying it bore no responsibility, and dropped its objection after the plan was amended.
MMA's Canadian monitor said the 460 million Canadian dollar fund was fully funded and the bankruptcy plans took effect. About 114 million dollars was to go to a wrongful death trust. The Bangor Daily News said 24 defendants, including oil companies, insurers and rail car companies, contributed.
A jury at the Quebec Superior Court in Sherbrooke acquitted Harding, Labrie and Demaître of criminal negligence causing death after nine days of deliberation, CBC News reported. The defence had called no witnesses. The Crown said it respected the jury's decision.
CBC NewsPrime Minister Justin Trudeau's office announced that the federal government would fund 60 percent of a rail bypass around downtown Lac-Mégantic, then estimated at 133 million Canadian dollars. A Transport Canada briefing note said Quebec would fund the other 40 percent.
Canadian Pacific bought the Central Maine & Quebec Railway, the successor to MMA, in December 2019, according to a Transport Canada briefing note. Railway Age reported that Canadian Pacific Kansas City will own and manage the bypass.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Martin Bureau ruled that Canadian Pacific's conduct was not the direct cause of the damages in suits brought by a class of residents, insurers and the Quebec government, placing responsibility on the locomotive engineer and MMA, The Canadian Press reported.
On the 10th anniversary TSB Chair Kathy Fox said three of the five recommendations had been closed and two, on preventing uncontrolled movements and on regulatory surveillance, remained open. She said uncontrolled movements of rail equipment still occur.
The Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed all three appeals against the 2022 judgment, The Canadian Press reported.
The railway operator and Transport Canada applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency for authority to build the 12.5 km bypass, according to Transport Canada.
The agency held an online public consultation and information sessions in Lac-Mégantic from 12 November 2025 to 30 January 2026, and a second consultation on a hydrogeological report from 18 to 29 June 2026, Transport Canada said.
The Canadian Press reported that the Supreme Court of Canada had refused to hear an appeal in the litigation against Canadian Pacific, leaving in place the rulings that the railway was not liable. As is its custom the court gave no reasons.
The Canadian Press, via Global NewsThe Canadian Transportation Agency approved construction of the bypass in Determination No. R-2026-117, subject to conditions, the agency and Transport Canada said. The agency said its reasons would be published separately in August.
In its August 2026 bypass newsletter, Transport Canada said steps remained before construction could begin, including the transfer of land to the railway operator and regulatory approval of the notice of railway works. It gave no construction start date.
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Reuters, via Claims Journal · amp.claimsjournal.com CBC News · cbc.ca CBC News · cbc.ca CBC News · cbc.ca The Canadian Press, via Global News · globalnews.caLast updated 1 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.