Two Essential Agreements Signed for Lac-Mégantic Rail Bypass

Current railway alignment through Lac_Mégantic. OpenRailwayMap.

Minister of Transport and Quebec Lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez on Oct. 6 announced that the Government of Canada has signed two essential agreements to launch the first calls for tender on the Lac-Mégantic Rail Bypass project.

According to Transport Canada, a contribution agreement was signed between the federal government and the City of Lac-Mégantic, allowing the city to carry out preparatory work for the construction of the bypass, which includes the reconstruction of city-owned municipal infrastructure and its relocation to the industrial park. The City of Lac-Mégantic will oversee planning and implementation of the work.

The Government of Canada also signed a contribution agreement with Central Maine & Quebec Railway Inc. (CMQR), a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), for the construction of the bypass project. The agreement outlines the terms and fundamental principles under which the railway operator will carry out the project. It will also enable the launch of the tendering process to contract a firm to carry out the work.

During his visit official visit to Lac-Mégantic as Minister of Transport, Rodriguez also met with the mayors of Frontenac and Nantes municipalities, as well as the mayor of the City of Lac-Mégantic, to discuss the importance of the project for the residents of the region.

“My heart goes out to the citizens of Lac-Mégantic,” said Rodriguez. “I strongly believe in the importance of the bypass project. This is a project like no other and trains must leave downtown. As the new Minister of Transport, I am committed to doing everything possible to achieve this goal as soon as possible.”

“Construction of the bypass must be completed as quickly as possible,” said Francois Jacques, Member of the National Assembly for Mégantic. “As soon as I became a Member of the National Assembly, I worked to bring rail service to the Lac-Mégantic industrial park, and I will continue to defend the interests of the people of Lac-Mégantic. I welcome this important milestone in the project’s realization.”

“Lac-Mégantic was affected by the worst rail tragedy in the country,” said Mayor of Lac-Mégantic Julie Morin. “Every day, we continue to hear and see the train running in our downtown core, and it has to stop. Having obtained the necessary authorizations and commitments to proceed last week, we can confirm that on Wednesday we launched the call for tender that will allow us to begin preparatory work on our municipal infrastructures in the industrial park. This is a concrete step towards the realization of a project that has been 10 years in the making.”

Further Reading:

• Lac-Mégantic Bypass Land Acquisition Nears Finish Line
• Lac-Mégantic Bypass Project Proving Problematic
• Canada: Lac-Mégantic Bypass Project Advancing
• Canada: Agreement-in-Principle for Lac-Mégantic Bypass
• Lac-Mégantic Bypass Work Continues