A Via Rail passenger train derailed in Quebec’s Bas-Saint-Laurent region early Monday after striking two semi-trailers fouling the track, but none of the 114 passengers, 12 crew members or four people with the trucks was injured, and travellers were sheltered at a local hall before continuing by bus.
1:26 a.m. at Mile 11.92
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada and CN police are investigating after a passenger train with more than 100 people aboard hit two truck trailers and derailed northeast of Quebec City.
Via Rail train 14, the Ocean, was travelling east from Montreal to Halifax when it struck the two 53-foot trailers at about 1:26 a.m. near Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, in the province’s Bas-Saint-Laurent region, roughly 180 kilometres northeast of Quebec City. The train — two locomotives and 19 passenger cars, weighing 931 tons — was carrying 114 passengers, with two locomotive engineers and 10 passenger service employees also on board; early reports put 124 people on the train.
Police said nobody was injured, including the four people in the two trucks attached to the trailers. The passengers were taken to the local city hall, where they were fed and given shelter, before resuming their journey to Halifax by bus. Via Rail apologized to affected passengers and said it was collaborating with the investigations.
Trailers where they should not have been
The TSB’s final investigation report explains how the collision happened. The two tractor-trailers were parked beside the CN Montmagny Subdivision main track at the yard of Aliments Asta, a meat-processing facility near Route 289. They had been backed in too far: the rear portions of the trailers were fouling — physically obstructing — the main track, apparently without the drivers noticing.
Travelling at approximately 60 mph, the operating locomotive engineer spotted the trailers partially obstructing the track and made an emergency application of the brakes. The train had slowed to about 40 mph when the lead locomotive, VIA 6435, struck the trailers, derailing both locomotives and several cars and scattering debris across a wide area.
The occurrence has since fed a wider industry argument about preventive measures around rail corridors — including whether fencing or concrete barriers should keep vehicles from creeping past property limits beside active lines. Marc Cadieux, president of the Quebec Trucking Association, raised strong concerns about the incident in media interviews as the details emerged.
A long night for passengers
The derailed train lost heat in the January cold, and passengers were evacuated to the community hall in Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, where they were fed and sheltered while buses were arranged. The Ocean is Via’s Montreal–Halifax service, the passenger rail link between Quebec and the Maritimes, and for the people aboard that night a routine overnight run turned into a far longer trip, with the final leg to Halifax completed by bus.
Service knocked out for days
The derailment cut the only rail link between Montreal and Atlantic Canada. Via Rail cancelled its Montreal–Halifax trains on Wednesday with no alternative transportation provided, and a westbound Ocean carrying 106 passengers was also terminated, its travellers continuing to Montreal by bus. Track damage from the collision was extensive enough that service was not expected to resume until Friday, with passengers compensated under Via’s policies.
