CP/CMQ: Lac-Megantic Bypass To Be Completed In 2022

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Governments of Canada and Quebec Announce Construction Dates for Mainline Northern Bypass, New Connection to Industrial Park.

05 July, Montreal QC – Construction on the 12.8-km railway bypass around the town of Lac-Mégantic QC will begin in 2021, and should be completed by the fall of 2022. Project cost is estimated at CDN$133 million. The Government of Canada will fund 60% of the construction costs, and the Government of Quebec will fund the other 40%.

Lac-Mégantic QC

map of train routes around the City of Lac-Mégantic
Several years of study and public input has resulted in the selected new route for the CP/CMQ main line north of the City of Lac-Mégantic, and connecting with additional access to the Parc Industriel de Lac-Mégantic (inset).

The Government of Canada announced the schedule on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic derailment and explosion, which occurred at 0114 hours on 06.July.2013, and claimed 47 lives.

Schedule

  • 2018-2019: Geotechnical Work
  • Summer 2019: Public hearings
  • 2019-2020: Property acquisition process
  • Spring 2020: Final preliminary draft
  • 2020: Plans and specifications
  • 2021-2022: Construction
  • 2023: Commissioning of the bypass route
  • 2023: Decommissioning of the existing track

In 2019, the federal and provincial governments announced that railway operations in the Eastern Townships municipalities of Nantes and Frontenac would be moved to the industrial park in Lac-Mégantic.