Canadian Pacific choose "Evangeline" as they wanted a prestige name for the new service drawing on the lore of Acadian history made famous by the poem Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a longtime travel theme of the DAR.

[6] Ridership quickly increased and the service was successful for several years, helped by the era's record-high gasoline prices.

Via altered the schedule and improved connections, resulting in quadrupling of passenger counts.

Drastic cuts to Via Rail's funding in the 1989 federal budget saw Minister of Transport Benoît Bouchard authorize the abandonment of 55% of Via's service, including the Evangeline, effective January 15, 1990.

The Via train had been the only user of the DAR rails west of Kentville to Yarmouth and CPR promptly abandoned the trackage in March 1990.