Marine Atlantic Inc. ( French : Marine Atlantique ) is an independent Canadian federal Crown corporation which is mandated to operate ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia .
58-542: MV Caribou was a Marine Atlantic passenger/vehicle ferry which operated between the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton in eastern Canada . Caribou was named in memory of her predecessor the SS Caribou which was sunk off Port aux Basques by a German U-boat on October 14, 1942 with the loss of 137 passengers and crew. Entering service in 1986, she was built by Versatile Davie in Lauzon, Quebec , and
116-627: A pulp and paper mill in Grand Falls and on January 7, 1905, the Anglo Newfoundland Development Company (AND) was formed, based on a partnership between the Harmsworths, Reid and the colonial government. Botwood was expanded through the construction of deepwater wharves and warehouses for shipping the finished pulp. To link the two, AND built the narrow gauge Botwood Railway (built to the same gauge as
174-830: A committee of the Newfoundland Legislature recommended that a narrow-gauge railway be built from the colonial capital in St. John's to Halls Bay , 547 km (340 mi) to the west. Construction was started on the Avalon Peninsula in August 1881 by the Blackman Syndicate. By 1884, the Newfoundland Railway Company had built 92 km (57 mi) west to Whitbourne before going into receivership . The bondholders of
232-726: A deal to develop a pulp and paper mill in Corner Brook . The railway was initially called the Newfoundland Government Railway but was soon shortened to the Newfoundland Railway in 1926. It remained the property of the dominion government until Confederation on March 31, 1949, when it was transferred to the federal government's Canadian National Railway . In 1925, the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) perfected
290-643: A method for recovering individual metals in ore and entered into partnership with AND to develop a mine at Buchans , which was connected to the Newfoundland Railway by the Millertown Railway , also a 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow gauge. Although the railway saw an increase in traffic during the First World War , it was extensive military-related construction in the late 1930s and early 1940s which proved
348-522: A private operator. The dockyard built in the 1880s was at one point in time owned by the Reid Newfoundland Company , then in 1923 was taken over by the Newfoundland Railway company. when Newfoundland joined Canada ownership passed to Canadian National . In 1998, the company moved its headquarters from Moncton to St. John's , after briefly considering North Sydney and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador . In late 2004,
406-477: A subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited . That year also saw Marine Atlantic remove itself from the provision of coastal ferry services in Newfoundland and Labrador with the transfer of operations to the provincial government at the end of the 1997 shipping season. This agreement was reached between the federal and provincial governments in exchange for federal funding to extend regional roads such as
464-578: A view particularly to the prevention of overlapping, more efficient and economical working and the readjustment of freight rates on a carefully planned and scientific basis. After Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949, the Newfoundland Railway and its ferry services became part of the Canadian National Railway . In 1977, CN's marine operations in Atlantic Canada were passed to a subsidiary, CN Marine . Marine Atlantic
522-574: Is a significantly smaller and lower-capacity ferry than other vessels in the fleet. Leif Ericson is 18,500 registered tons and 157 metres long, carrying 500 passengers, and 250 automobile-equivalent vehicles. MV Atlantic Vision was originally chartered from the Estonia -based Tallink for five years starting in October 2008; in February 2015, Marine Atlantic announced that the lease on
580-433: Is capable of running on diesel, liquid natural gas or battery electric. Marine Atlantic inherited numerous vessels from CN Marine in 1986, all of which have since been removed from service. Many of these vessels have gone through numerous ownership changes and, given their advanced age, most have been scrapped. From its inception in 1986 until 1997, Marine Atlantic operated the following routes: Marine Atlantic operated
638-661: Is specifically designed to traverse the 178 km (96 nmi) route across the Cabot Strait between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador . A roll-on, roll-off design with a bow visor , Caribou had 2 vehicle decks and 5 decks above, the main passenger deck being Deck 5. She measured 179 metres in overall length and 25 metres in breadth, weighing 27,212 tons. Her capacity included 1,200 passengers and 370 automobiles or 77 tractor trailers . She had up to 106 crewmembers. Caribou' s design had been commissioned by CN Marine in
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#1732793758680696-479: The Cabot Strait on two routes: The 96-nautical-mile (178 km) Port aux Basques route is operated year-round. This service was assumed by Canadian National Railway in 1949 from the Newfoundland Railway when the Dominion of Newfoundland entered into Canadian Confederation . The 280-nautical-mile (520 km) Argentia, Placentia route is operated seasonally during the summer (June–September). This service
754-624: The German submarine U-69 on October 14, 1942. 137 passengers died and 104 people survived the sinking. In honour of the lost passengers and crew, the Newfoundland Railway Employees Association had the entire workforce forego a day's wages as a donation to a public campaign to build a memorial near the Port aux Basques railway terminal. Newfoundland became the 10th province of Canada on March 31, 1949, and
812-485: The Newfoundland Dockyard , a dry dock located in St. John's from 1986 until its sale in 1997. This facility had been established by the Newfoundland Railway to build and repair its coastal ferries. In 1949 it was transferred to Canadian National Railways after that company assumed ownership of the Newfoundland Railway when the country entered Confederation . Its responsibility was transferred to
870-531: The Railway Contract of '98 ). The Reid company agreed to operate the lines for 50 years, in exchange for outright ownership and land grants. They also purchased the government drydock in St. John's and the telegraph system. The Reid company purchased eight new steamships to operate as coastal ferries around the island and into Labrador . Controversy followed the awarding of so many assets to Reid, and in 1901
928-599: The Trans-Canada Highway across the island in 1965. New railcar-capable ferries were introduced; mainland standard-gauge railcars were ferried to Newfoundland, where their standard-gauge bogies were replaced with narrow-gauge bogies in Port aux Basques . This innovation was unsuccessful. The first casualty was the passenger rail service, which was abandoned in 1969 in favour of buses. CN began to essentially stop marketing its own Newfoundland rail operations through
986-478: The Trans-Labrador Highway to service coastal communities. These coastal ferry services had been initiated by the Newfoundland Railway and were assumed by Canadian National Railways , following the province's entry into Confederation in 1949, although they were not constitutionally mandated. Also in 1997 Marine Atlantic sold off its Newfoundland Dockyard, located in St. John's, Newfoundland to
1044-611: The White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR) railway, which reopened for service in 1988. Gravel cars used by WP&YR are still painted in CN orange; unconfirmed information indicates that some Newfoundland passenger cars were converted into passenger cars of vintage appearance for WP&YR. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador still has railway transportation, operating on mainland Labrador. The Quebec, North Shore & Labrador Railway (QNSL) operates between Sept-Îles, Quebec , and
1102-760: The 1940s, and the U-boat threat in the waters off-shore, the Newfoundland Railway became a vital, yet very obscure, supply link in the defence of the Northeast Atlantic and the Allied convoy system. When Winston Churchill met Franklin D. Roosevelt in Placentia Bay in 1941 to sign the Atlantic Charter , Churchill sent for Lord Beaverbrook , Minister of Aircraft Production. Beaverbrook flew into Gander and then travelled by rail to Placentia in
1160-502: The 1970s and began to rely on trucks for hauling cargo. In 1979, CN reorganized its narrow-gauge system into Terra Transport , as a means to separate the subsidy-dependent Newfoundland rail operations from its mainland North America core freight rail system. Rail cargo traffic continued to decline, and all branch lines on the island were closed in 1984. In 1987, Canada deregulated its railway industry, allowing abandonments to proceed with less red tape. The former CN subsidiary CN Marine
1218-518: The 1997 opening of the Confederation Bridge which replaced Marine Atlantic's most heavily used ferry service, the constitutionally-mandated ferry to Prince Edward Island . Later in 1997, the company transferred the operation of its Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine ferry services between Saint John, New Brunswick - Digby, Nova Scotia , and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia - Bar Harbor, Maine , to the private-sector company Bay Ferries Limited ,
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#17327937586801276-636: The Canadian government was planning to invest around $ 900 million in the ferry operations. Two ferries, the MV ; Caribou and the MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood , were replaced by newer ships initially chartered from Stena Line . On land, all three terminals at Marine Atlantic's ports received extensive renovations, including the construction of a new terminal building at the North Sydney facility. MV Leif Ericson , purchased in 2001,
1334-463: The Newfoundland Railway for service between Humbermouth and Curling West, St. John's and Topsail, and also on branch lines. Although successful in Britain, the type proved inadequate in the rugged winter weather of Newfoundland. Also, the necessity for a crew of three (engineer, fireman and conductor) meant that cost savings were not as great as expected. All were scrapped in 1938-39 after the closure of
1392-474: The Newfoundland Railway's assets were transferred to the control of the federal Crown corporation Canadian National Railway (CNR, CN post-1960). CN became a major presence in Newfoundland's early years as a province, controlling the railway, dry dock services, many ferries and coastal boats, and the telegraph system. The Newfoundland Railway's premiere cross-island passenger train, The Overland Limited
1450-550: The Newfoundland railway operations was made in 1955, with the opening of the Canso Causeway , linking Cape Breton Island with mainland North America and removing the need to ferry railcars destined for Newfoundland across the Strait of Canso . CN's Newfoundland operations continued to see significant traffic increases with its improved ferry and rail connections, but faced increased truck and bus competition on completion of
1508-598: The Reid Newfoundland Company trackage) beginning in 1908 and completing it in 1909. It would later be renamed the Grand Falls Central Railway . Reid died in 1908 but his company set the pace for development in Newfoundland's interior mining and forestry industries, although the entire operation continued to suffer losses. In 1909 and into the 1910s, the colonial government contracted for additional branch lines to be built. Some of
1566-479: The bankrupt Newfoundland Railway Company continued to build a 43 km (27 mi) branch line from Brigus Junction to Harbour Grace (the Harbour Grace Railway), which was completed by November that year. The colonial government undertook to build a branch from the junction at Whitbourne to the port of Placentia between 1886 and 1888. The colonial government sought new investors to continue
1624-482: The caboose of a freight train to save waiting for a passenger train. In 1943, a joint project between AT&T and the United States Army established strategic landline telephone service along the railroad right-of-way. The Second World War also saw the Newfoundland Railway experience its most tragic loss, when the ferry Caribou was torpedoed and sunk 40 km (25 miles) off Port aux Basques by
1682-759: The coastal service, the Portia and Prospero, and in 1912, set up a similar arrangement for use of the Sagona and Fogota. In 1923, under the Railway Settlement Act, the government took over the island's railway. They purchased the Alphabet Fleet from the Reids and placed it under the railway's control. In 1924, the Portia, Prospero and Sagona were purchased outright, and another vessel, the Malakoff,
1740-556: The contracts were modified to place everything under a limited liability corporation, named the Reid Newfoundland Company . Reid's railway development in the colony began to attract attention to the potential of the island's natural resources. In 1903, the Reids partnered with a St. John's businessman, Harry J. Crowe, to purchase timber rights in Botwood , Norris Arm , Gambo , Gander Bay , and Point Leamington . In 1904, British investors named Harmsworth declared their intention to build
1798-469: The early 1980s and was the culmination of years of research into effective icebreaking ship designs. The resulting hull design which Caribou and Joseph and Clara Smallwood were built to is called "Gulfspan", named in part after the Gulf of St. Lawrence . The "Gulfspan" hull is unique among Canadian icebreakers in that the ship slices through sea ice , rather than using its weight to ride up onto and crush
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1856-432: The federal government announced the appointment of a three-member committee tasked with examining future operations of Marine Atlantic. One of the options that was reportedly considered included privatization , however the subsequent report called for improved service through fleet renewal, lower fares, increased frequency of crossings, and moving the headquarters to Port aux Basques. In 2010, Marine Atlantic announced that
1914-451: The first passenger train arrived at Port aux Basques and the Bruce set sail with passengers for North Sydney. Later that year, the colonial government persuaded Reid's company to take over operation of the bankrupt Newfoundland Railway Company and its sister Harbour Grace Railway, as well as the government-owned Placentia branch, in order to unify the system across the entire island (known as
1972-471: The government decided to subsidize a regularly scheduled steamer service. The first vessel chartered to the service was the Victoria in 1862. In 1863 Ariel took over, alternating a northern run to Twillingate (later extended to Tilt Cove) with a southern run to LaPoile. In 1871 Grieve and Co. replaced Ariel with Leopard and Tiger, inaugurating northern and southern runs based at St. John's, to Battle Harbour in
2030-495: The ice underneath. This design permits the sister ships to maintain close to regular operating speed. At the time that Caribou entered service in 1986, CN Marine underwent a restructuring whereby the company was separated from its parent CN Rail and renamed Marine Atlantic . At the same time, CN was beginning the process of abandoning all railway service on the island of Newfoundland, which had been operating as Terra Transport . Several ferry vessels were retired and/or sold at
2088-525: The island and Labrador, to be integrated with the railway. By 1900 they comprised a fleet of eight vessels known as the " Alphabet Fleet ." Each vessel in the Alphabet Fleet was built in Scotland and given the name of a Scottish location by the Reids, who were of Scottish ancestry. In 1904, in response to complaints about the Reid service, the Newfoundland government subsidized the use of two outside vessels for
2146-491: The major works included: By the early 1920s, the Reid Newfoundland Company's losses were mounting and in 1923 the colonial government passed the Railway Settlement Act which cancelled the operating contract for the entire system, passing the railway into government control (a form of nationalization ). Some of the lands that had belonged to the Reid Newfoundland Company were used by the government as part of
2204-635: The mining region of Labrador West . A former QNSL line, now owned and operated by Tshiuetin Rail Transportation , serves the former mining town of Schefferville, Quebec , passing through Labrador. QNSL also connects with Newfoundland and Labrador's other active railway, the Wabush Lake Railway . In addition, the Steam Rail Coaches A , B , C , D and E were built between 1923 and 1925 by Sentinel-Cammell for
2262-464: The morning of October 1. CN continued to operate its Roadcruiser Bus service and a CN Intermodal trucking operation in Newfoundland until 1996. With CN's privatization in late 1995, the company divested itself of all money-losing and most non-railroad interests, including CN Roadcruiser. Cross-island bus service was taken over by DRL Coachlines of Triton, Newfoundland on March 30, 1996. The CN Newfoundland trucking operation continued until fall 1996, and
2320-615: The names of the new vessels: MV Blue Puttees and MV Highlanders . Blue Puttees went into service March 2011, with Highlanders following in April 2011. In May 2015, Marine Atlantic announced that it had purchased both vessels from Stena for Can$ 100 million each. In July 2021, Marine Atlantic ordered an E-Flexer on charter from Stena RoRo for five years. It will carry 1000 passengers and contain 2571 lane metres of vehicle space. The MV Ala’suinu entered service in July 2024, and
2378-613: The north, and to Halifax in the south. After 1877 the two-steamer coastal service continued with Bowring Brothers' Curlew and Plover, while Lady Glover ran in Conception Bay. In 1888 Harvey & Co. took over the service, with Conscript (on the northern service) and Volunteer. The packet Hercules, then later Alert, began running in Placentia Bay, while Favourite ran in Trinity Bay and Lady Glover in Notre Dame Bay. Once
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2436-632: The railway reached Harbour Grace there was no need for a steam-packet on Conception Bay. After Volunteer was lost in 1891, Harvey's commissioned Grand Lake and renamed Conscript the Virginia Lake. Meanwhile, Farquhar's Harlaw served western Newfoundland, out of Halifax. With its completion of the Newfoundland Railway in 1898 and following its agreement with the Newfoundland Government, the Reid Newfoundland Company under Robert G. Reid began operating coastal and ferry services for
2494-557: The railway's subsidiary CN Marine in 1977 and then to Marine Atlantic in 1986. Upon its privatization in 1997, it was renamed NewDock-St. John's Dockyard Company . Newfoundland Railway The Newfoundland Railway was a narrow-gauge railway that operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of 906 miles (1,458 km), it was the longest 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow-gauge system in North America. In 1880,
2552-559: The stalled project to Halls Bay and in June 1890, Scottish-born Montreal resident and railway engineer/contractor Robert Gillespie Reid agreed to build and operate the line. By 1892, Reid's workers were approaching the halfway point at the Exploits River when the government changed the terminus from Halls Bay approximately 400 km (250 mi) further west, first to St. George's and finally to Port aux Basques . The route itself
2610-460: The time that Caribou entered service and these corporate restructuring changes were taking place. Caribou regularly made the Cabot Strait crossing from North Sydney to Channel-Port aux Basques in approximately 5 hours, 30 minutes, however she had been known to break the 5 hour mark in optimum conditions but frequently comes closer to 6 hours as dictated by established schedules. The ship
2668-722: The vessel had been renewed until November 2017 for a cost of Can$ 40 million. At 30,285 GT , Atlantic Vision was the largest ship in Marine Atlantic fleet and the largest ferry in North America. On May 21, 2010, Marine Atlantic announced that the company had agreed to charter two vessels from the Stena Line to replace the aging "Gulfspan" class vessels MV Caribou and MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood . The new vessels, built in 2006 and 2007, boosted capacity and lowered operating costs, as they consumed less fuel. On September 29, 2010, Marine Atlantic announced
2726-538: The worth of the Newfoundland Railway as a strategic asset. An air force base was developed adjacent to the main line in Gander , and major American military bases were constructed in Stephenville ( Ernest Harmon AFB ), Argentia ( NS Argentia ) and St. John's ( Pepperrell AFB ), in addition to Canadian and British defence facilities in St. John's. Given the lack of roads and all-weather highways in Newfoundland during
2784-434: Was abandoned in 2005 due to lack of interest. Since then, all of the buildings have been heavily vandalized and Hurricane Igor washed away part of the park, including a large section of the rail bed. Local railway fans have been pushing government to retain the park as an historic site but officials have expressed little interest. Some rolling stock was converted to a narrower gauge of 914 mm ( 3 ft ) and sold to
2842-509: Was brought into service. In 1925, the SS ; Caribou began its service on the Gulf run. The Newfoundland Royal Commission , formed in 1933 by the government of Great Britain to examine the future of Newfoundland in light of its then financial difficulties, examined the operation of ferries as part of its investigation. It recommended that an expert inquiry be held into the ferry services with
2900-415: Was completed between 1894 and 1898. At the same time, Reid proposed a ferry service across the Cabot Strait from Port aux Basques to North Sydney, Nova Scotia , and contracted for a steamship to be built in Scotland. The Bruce arrived in the fall of 1897, before the line was completed to Port aux Basques, so her initial runs to Cape Breton Island were made from Little Placentia Sound. On June 29, 1898,
2958-675: Was diverted inland up the Exploits valley and over the Gaff Topsails (some of the highest elevation terrain on the island) and away from the coast once on the north bank of the Exploits River. This extension to the system was initially operated as the Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway and for it, Reid was granted land totalling 5,000 acres per mile (13 km /km). The new line west to Port aux Basques
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#17327937586803016-656: Was established by CNR in 1967. As a result of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic , the Argentia, Placentia service was suspended for that year on May 8, 2020. From 1851, when the Colony of Newfoundland took over the operation of the post office, the government contracted for packet boats. By 1860 subsidized schooners were operating on the northeast coast from Greenspond to New Perlican, and along the south coast from Placentia to Channel-Port aux Basques. The first steam-packet, Lady LeMarchant, operated on Conception Bay after 1852. In 1860
3074-581: Was established in 1986 to take over the provision of ferry services in Atlantic Canada which had previously been operated by CN Marine , a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway . Its headquarters were in Moncton , New Brunswick . Extensive budget cuts by the Government of Canada during the latter part of the 1990s led to a drastic downsizing of Marine Atlantic's operations, precipitated by
3132-476: Was officially abandoned on October 1, 1988. Following abandonment, work trains continued to operate, assisting salvage crews to remove the rails from remote locations, particularly in the Gaff Topsails between the Exploits River and Deer Lake . The last train, prior to work trains removing rails, arrived from Port Aux Basques and departed Corner Brook eastbound on September 30 and arrived at Bishops Falls on
3190-546: Was renamed the Caribou by CN, although it was known colloquially as The Newfie Bullet . CN maintained the Caribou until 1969. CN made major capital improvements, upgrading the main line, bridges, and rolling stock, and replacing steam locomotives with diesel units. Additional improvements were made to the ferry service, with new vessels and an expanded terminal at Port aux Basques. An additional indirect service improvement to
3248-424: Was reorganized into Marine Atlantic in 1986 and one of the two railcar ferries was sold off, leaving the narrow-gauge system with limited interchange ability at Port aux Basques in its final two years. In December 1987 the provincial and federal governments signed a deal worth $ 800 million for highway improvements, removing the provincial government's opposition to the pending abandonment of the railway. The railway
3306-606: Was retired by Marine Atlantic on November 26, 2010 after completing her last run from Port aux Basques to North Sydney. She was laid up in Sydney Harbour until August 31, 2011. On August 11, 2011 it was announced that Caribou had been sold to Comrie Ltd. of St. Vincent and the Grenadines . She was renamed MV Caribo by her new owners and was scrapped at Alang , India alongside her younger sister-ship Joseph and Clara Smallwood . Marine Atlantic Marine Atlantic's corporate headquarters are in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador . Marine Atlantic operates ferries across
3364-482: Was then contracted to Clarke Transport . The former Newfoundland Railway station in St. John's now hosts the Railway Coastal Museum . Numerous towns across the island have preserved railway equipment on display. With few exceptions, the roadbed now forms the T'Railway Provincial Park rail trail . Until 2005, the Trinity Loop Amusement Park operated a miniature train, one of the few remaining places on Newfoundland with tracks still in place. The park closed down and
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