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Final Boarding Call · July 22 · 48 min

Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster

On a warm July night in 2013, patrons at a popular Quebec bar heard the screech of metal on metal as an unmanned train barreled toward their town at highway speeds. What followed was a cascade of explosions that turned half the downtown into an inferno, killing 47 people and exposing a corporate culture that valued profits over lives. Discover how a cheap repair, inadequate training, and regulatory failures turned a routine freight run into one of North America's deadliest rail disasters—and why similar conditions persist on railways today. Sources: Railway Investigation Report R13D0054, "Runaway and Main-track Derailment: Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Freight Train MMA-002" — Transportation Safety Board of Canada Lac-Mégantic criminal trial testimony, 2017–2018 proceedings — Court record "The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster: Public Betrayal, Justice Denied" by Bruce Campbell — James Lorimer & Company "Bomb Trains: How Industry Greed and Regulatory Failure Put the Public at Risk" by Justin Mikulka "The public health response during and after the Lac-Mégantic train derailment tragedy" by Généreux et al. — Disaster Health Investigation series on MMA corporate culture and safety record — The Globe and Mail Trial coverage and witness testimony — CBC News "Lives lost: Remembering Lac-Mégantic's victims" — Montreal Gazette "Five Years after Lac-Mégantic, U.S. Freight Rail Going Backward on Safety" — The Century Foundation Reporting on former engineer Jarod Briggs's warnings about single-person crews — Bangor Daily News Find Final Boarding Call online: Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com Email: finalboardingcallpodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod Facebook: Final Boarding Call Credits: Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

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On a warm July night in 2013, patrons at a popular Quebec bar heard the screech of metal on metal as an unmanned train barreled toward their town at highway speeds. What followed was a cascade of explosions that turned half the downtown into an inferno, killing 47 people and exposing a corporate culture that valued profits over lives. Discover how a cheap repair, inadequate training, and regulatory failures turned a routine freight run into one of North America's deadliest rail disasters—and why similar conditions persist on railways today.

Sources:

  • Railway Investigation Report R13D0054, "Runaway and Main-track Derailment: Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Freight Train MMA-002" — Transportation Safety Board of Canada
  • Lac-Mégantic criminal trial testimony, 2017–2018 proceedings — Court record
  • "The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster: Public Betrayal, Justice Denied" by Bruce Campbell — James Lorimer & Company
  • "Bomb Trains: How Industry Greed and Regulatory Failure Put the Public at Risk" by Justin Mikulka
  • "The public health response during and after the Lac-Mégantic train derailment tragedy" by Généreux et al. — Disaster Health
  • Investigation series on MMA corporate culture and safety record — The Globe and Mail
  • Trial coverage and witness testimony — CBC News
  • "Lives lost: Remembering Lac-Mégantic's victims" — Montreal Gazette
  • "Five Years after Lac-Mégantic, U.S. Freight Rail Going Backward on Safety" — The Century Foundation
  • Reporting on former engineer Jarod Briggs's warnings about single-person crews — Bangor Daily News

Find Final Boarding Call online:


Credits:

Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.

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