The derailment site of a train operated by Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway that derailed on Dec. 28, 2025, near Sept-Îles, Que., is shown in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway (Mandatory Credit)
Federal agency links Quebec train derailment in December to temperature swings
Jul 22, 2026 | 11:58 AM
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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.
The agency says the derailment likely happened after a rail broke under stress from sharp temperature swings and the earlier passage of another train with a wheel defect.
The train was carrying iron ore and derailed on Dec. 28 about 60 kilometres north of Sept-Îles, on Quebec’s North Shore, after an automatic emergency brake was triggered.
Twenty-nine railcars and one locomotive derailed, but no one was injured, and most of the spilled iron ore did not reach the frozen surface of the nearby Nipissis river.
