A locomotive of the Central Maine and Québec Railway.
(André Chivinski from Sherbrooke (Québec), Canada, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
CENTRAL MAINE AND QUEBEC RAILWAY
The Central Maine and Québec Railway (reporting mark CMQ) was a Class II freight railroad operating in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was owned by Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Fortress Investment Group, LLC. It is now a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway since June 2020.
Its United States operations were named the Central Maine and Québec Railway US Incorporated with offices in New York, NY, and were registered with the Surface Transportation Board on February 14, 2014.
Its Canadian operations were named the Central Maine and Québec Railway Canada Incorporated with offices in Sherbrooke, QC, and were registered with Revenue Québec on February 14, 2014.
CMQ is the successor to Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MMA).
History
On August 7, 2013, the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MMA) company declared bankruptcy in the United States and Canada following the Lac-Mégantic train accident. This tragedy caused the death of 47 people and damages estimated at $200 million. In December 2013, Fortress Investment Group , through its subsidiary Railroad Acquisition Holdings (RAH), made an offer to acquire the assets of MMA. In January of 2014, the investment group won the auction for the sum of 15.7 million. The following month, RAH announced that it was forming the new entity Central Maine & Quebec Railway to become the operator of the acquired railway lines.
On June 4, 2020, Canadian Pacific finalized acquisition of the CMQ 4.
Railways
The CMQ has the following sections:
- Searsport Subdivision (47 km): Junction of northern Maine at Searsport
- Millinocket Subdivision (126.3 km): Junction of northern Maine to Millinocket
- East Millinocket Subdivision (9.96 km): Millinocket to East Millinocket
- Madawaska Subdivision (2.4 km): Millinocket to the Maine Northern Railway departure
- KI Subdivision (6.02 km) Brownville to Brownville Junction
- Moosehead Subdivision (188.5 km): Junction of Brownville to Lac-Mégantic
- Sherbrooke Subdivision (202.1 km): Lac-Mégantic to Brigham
- Adirondack Subdivision (32.2 km): Brigham to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
- Newport Subdivision (97.2 km): Brigham to Newport
- Stanbridge Subdivision (unused) (20.23 km): Farnham to Stanbridge Station
- Saint-Guillaume subdivision (unused) (42.5 km): Farnham to Sainte-Rosalie
In total, the CMQ owns 774.11 kilometers of railway including:
- 355.23 km in Maine
- 381.11 km in Quebec
- 37.77 km in Vermont
Overview
Creation: 2014
Founder: John Giles
Predecessor: Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway; Maine Eastern Railroad
Reporting Mark: CMQ
Head office: Bangor, Maine
Shareholders: Fortress Investment Group
Director: Ryan Ratledge
Parent company: Canadian Pacific (since 2019)
Website: www.cmqrailway.com
Location: Quebec, Maine and Vermont
Length: 774.11 km
Rail gauge: Standard spacing
