For most of the train's life under Via Rail, two daily round trips ran the full route between Halifax and Sydney.

[4] Service was discontinued on January 15, 1990, during a round of severe cuts to the Via Rail network overseen by Benoît Bouchard due to the 1989 budget.

[5] In an act of protest, local union leader Victor Tomiczek chained himself to the last train departing Sydney station.

[6] Passenger service between Halifax and Sydney resumed in 2000 with Via Rail's Bras d'Or, which ran once per week during the summer tourist season.

At the time, the line from Truro to Sydney was operated by the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway.