Federal agency links Quebec train derailment in December to temperature swings
The board said 47 broken-rail incidents were recorded in 2025 and no single cause could be confirmed.
- The Transportation Safety Board released a report yesterday on the Dec. 28, 2025, freight train derailment near Sept-Îles, Que., but stated the agency could not definitively determine the exact cause.
- Investigators suggest a rail broke under stress from sharp temperature swings, with the earlier passage of another train carrying a wheel defect further compromising the track.
- Records show 47 broken-rail incidents occurred on the line in 2025, with over half in Dec. and the prior month; the track had been inspected three days before the derailment with no defects detected.
- Twenty-Nine railcars and one locomotive derailed during the incident, though no one was injured and most of the spilled iron ore did not reach the frozen surface of the nearby Nipissis river.
- Traveling 60 kilometres north of Sept-Îles on the North Shore, the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway train carrying Iron Ore Company cargo triggered an automatic emergency brake during the accident.
21 Articles
21 Articles
The Toronto Star
Federal agency links Quebec train derailment in December to temperature swings
MONTREAL - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it could not determine the exact cause of a freight train derailment in northern Quebec last December.
After investigation, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) was unable to establish with certainty what caused the December 28 train derailment on the QNS&L railway between Sept-Îles and Schefferville. At the time of the occurrence, a 240-car train loaded with iron ore had derailed, weighing 27,584 tonnes and measuring 8600 feet. The accident resulted in the destruction of the railway over a distance of approximately 500 feet. 29 cars d…
Le Nord-Côtier
lemanic.caAfter investigation, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) was unable to establish with certainty what caused the December 28 train derailment on the QNS&L railway between Sept-Îles and Schefferville. At the time of the occurrence, a 240-car train loaded with iron ore had [...] The post Train Derailment at Sept-Îles: difficult to establish the cause according to the TSB appeared first on Le Nord-Côtier.
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