Ferries
On June 30, 1898, the first passenger train arrived in Port aux Basques, and the Bruce departed for North Sydney shortly afterward. Over the years, the Newfoundland Railway expanded both the number of trains and vessels which called at Port Aux Basques. In 1925 the steamer SS Caribou began service. She was attacked and sunk by a U-boat on October 14, 1942 with a loss of 137 lives, some from the Port aux Basques area. On March 31, 1949 Newfoundland entered into Confederation and the railway was transferred to Canadian National Railways.
Under CNR in the 1950s, Port aux Basques was expanded with the construction of new dock facilities and the arrival of newer and larger ships such as the MV William Carson. Extensive blasting of rock created large railyards with extensive dual-gauge trackage. The excess rock was then used as fill to create the required docks. By the mid-1960s, new railcar-capable ferries such as the Frederick Carter permitted the exchange of railcars, requiring further expansion at the Port aux Basques terminal facilities.
The mid-1960s also saw the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway across Newfoundland, an event which eventually led to the closure of the railway by 1988, but which made Port aux Basques into an even more important gateway to the island of Newfoundland, given the increased number of tourists visiting the province, and the rising amount of truck traffic. New Ro-Pax-capable vessels were commissioned and/or chartered during the 1960s-1980s to meet the growing demand, such as the Marine Nautica, Marine Atlantica, Marine Evangeline, Ambrose Shea, and John Hamilton Gray.
With the abandonment of the railway, extensive rebuilding of Port aux Basques terminal resulted in expansive marshalling areas for waiting motor vehicle traffic. A plant disease inspection station is located near a modern rebuilt railway station now used as a passenger terminal for the ferry service operated by Marine Atlantic, which was renamed from CN Marine in 1986. Port aux Basques harbour hosts the arrival of the two largest icebreaking ferries in Canada, the Caribou and Joseph and Clara Smallwood, as well as other passenger and cargo vessels.
