The railway company involved in a tragic train derailment which killed 47 people in the Canadian city of Lac-Mégantic had repeated infraction notices for violations of the rules surrounding the securing of trains, according to new media reports. Despite the violations, the ministry, Transport Canada, never imposed any sanctions on Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. (MM&A).
Those violations, documented in Transport Canada files obtained by CBC/Radio-Canada’s investigative program, Enquête, were noted several times in 2004 and 2009, and again in 2011 and 2012.
Last July, an unmanned train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, killing 47 people, and destroying the downtown core of Lac-Mégantic.
In another development this week, claimants in a class-action case are now alleging gross negligence in the way the federal rail regulator applied rail-safety rules.
More information:
CBC News – A decade before the Lac-Mégantic tragedy, Transport Canada was aware of company’s non-compliance – here
Radio-Canada – Transports Canada a laissé la MMA sans plan de gestion de sécurité pendant 7 ans (in French) – here
Globe and Mail – Federal government named in Lac-Mégantic class-action lawsuit – here
Toronto Star – Federal government named in Lac-Mégantic class-action lawsuit – here
Montreal Gazette – Lac-Mégantic claimants go after Ottawa, allege Transport Canada was ‘grossly negligent’ – here
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