PORTLAND — The sale of the Maine-based railroad responsible for a deadly oil train derailment in Quebec is due to completed next week. Chapter 11 trustee Robert Keach said Thursday that the $15.85 million sale of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway will close on May 15. A bankruptcy judge gave permission to delay a separate […]
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Effort to make rail tank cars used to ship crude oil safer marked by squabbling
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Spurred by a series of fiery train crashes, a push by government and industry to make safer tank cars used for shipping crude oil and ethanol has bogged down in squabbling and finger-pointing over whether they’re needed and if so, who should pay. The Transportation Department, worried about the potential for […]
Father of Bates College student defends son, waits for autopsy results
Italian police are continuing to investigate the death of 21-year-old Bates College junior John Durkin, hoping autopsy and toxicology results expected Tuesday will provide insight into what happened in Rome early Thursday morning. According to the news outlet Roma Today, a camera shows Durkin, a linebacker and captain of the Bobcats’ football team, walking alone […]
New owner, new name: MMA to become the Central Maine and Quebec Railway
HERMON — Once the sale of the bankrupt Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway is complete, that name will be filed away in the history books. Railroad Acquisition Holdings, the affiliate of New York-based investment firm Fortress Investment Group that is in the process of buying Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway out of bankruptcy, will change […]
Wrongful death claimants in Lac-Megantic disaster want George Mitchell to oversee allocation of railroad’s funds
BANGOR — A Chicago law firm on Wednesday filed a proposal that would appoint former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell to oversee the allocation of available funds in the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway’s bankruptcy case to the victims who have filed wrongful death and personal injury claims. The firm Meyers & Flowers filed the […]
After bankruptcy sale, what’s next for beleaguered Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway?
The sale of the bankrupt Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway is all but certain at this point, but the buyer — Fortress Investment Group — remains mum on its reasons for wanting to acquire the bankrupt railroad or its future plans. While Fortress may not be talking, the Bangor Daily News is able to piece […]
‘Multiple bids’ made in auction for Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway assets
BANGOR — Multiple parties have made initial bids for the assets of the bankrupt Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway ahead of next week’s auction. The deadline for bids on the railroad’s assets was the end of the day Friday. Robert Keach, the railroad company’s trustee in its bankruptcy proceedings, told the Bangor Daily News after […]
Cracked wheel may have caused New Brunswick train derailment
Lead investigator Guy Laporte said a crack in a wheel near the front of the train caused the wheel to loosen from the axel, resulting in the derailment of that wheel set. But Laporte said it’s too early to determine what caused the train to leave the tracks late Tuesday derailed in the sparsely populated […]
Canadian train carrying oil derails, catches fire near Maine border
Of the 17 cars that derailed late Tuesday in New Brunswick province, five contain crude oil and four contain propane, said Claude Mongeau, the chief executive of CN Rail. Some of the propane cars are venting and some of the crude cars are burning, he said. “It is contained, but it is evolving,” Mongeau said. […]
Auction for railroad in Quebec derailment gets OK
PORTLAND (AP) — As the first trains rolled into a Quebec town devastated by a derailment and fire that killed 47 people, a federal bankruptcy judge approved bidding procedures Wednesday for the auction of the Maine-based railroad that owned the train. The action in a courtroom in Bangor came on the same day the first […]