The station was a stop on the Via Rail Dayliner service, which closed indefinitely in 2011.

Nanaimo station was the original northern terminus of the E&N railway when the line entered service in 1886.

By the following year the line was extended north to Wellington, which became the new terminus.

[1] The building is a more complex version of the CPR Standard Plan No.

Eventually, on August 12, 2011, the bus service ended and the station closed indefinitely.