Quote:
Originally Posted by lio45
On a related note, pardon my ignorance, but why isn't there a ferry from the Maritimes straight to St. John's? The idea of having to drive across Newfoundland on a one-lane-in-each-direction road in the forest, seems stupid when you've ALREADY been on a boat for hours. Might as well just ride that boat to your final destination, no?
Thinking about it now, I suppose the answer is that there just isn't enough demand and the ferry service is a money loser that got eternally promised by Canada in the 1940s to seduce Newfoundland into joining, so of course we're going to minimize the waste by offering the cheapest service possible (that we're legally bound to) ...
|
Before car ferries and cheaper air travel, there was passenger ship service between St. John's and the mainland. Problem with a year around service to/from the Avalon is sea conditions on the Grand Banks can be terrible and change quickly, especially in the winter, so I don't think it would be route anyone would want to use.
I'm not sure what the economic situation with Marine Atlantic is, but there is demand. There are 3 ferries operating on the Sydney/PAB run (1 dedicated to commercial traffic, the others are mixed.), and all sail full pretty regularly. It's the shortest crossing, but the Sydney/PAB run was operating before Confederation and the Terms of Union state it has to operate there.
Threaded Mode