Quebec Train Crash Taints Rail CEO’s Industry-Legend Status
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Rail World Inc. Chief Executive Officer Edward Burkhardt has gone from railroad industry legend to Canada’s public enemy No. 1 in less than a week.
The executive, 74, once named Railroader of the Year by Railway Age magazine, has gotten death threats after a freight train operated by his Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railways crashed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing as many as 50 people. Quebec Premier Pauline Marois criticized him for taking too long to visit the accident site and Maclean’s, Canada’s largest newsmagazine, called him “the most hated man” in the town, which sits 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the Maine border.