Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway

During the two world wars, the Sydney Subdivision was operating at near capacity handling steel and coal shipments. In the 1950s, up to 180 carloads per day were being hauled. By the 1970s, automobiles and road transport had cut traffic by 50 percent.

The section of the Sydney Subdivision from Port Hawkesbury to Sydney has undergone a significant decline in traffic since CN had sold the entire route to RailTex in 1993.

The first decline occurred in 1997, when CN stopped routing Terra Transport container traffic bound for Newfoundland via the Marine Atlantic ferry service at North Sydney. From 1978 to 1997, Terra Transport containers were hauled by rail to the North Sydney railway yard where they would be transferred onto truck chassis and placed on board a ferry destined for Newfoundland. Until the abandonment of CN's rail services in Newfoundland in 1988, they would be transferred onto CN's narrow gauge trains at the ferry terminal in Newfoundland and delivered to destinations across that province. Following railway abandonment in 1988, the containers remained on the truck chassis for delivery by truck. A combination of changes to Marine Atlantic's ferry service, coupled with a desire by CN Rail to increase traffic at the Port of Halifax, saw these containers re-routed to Halifax where they were hauled to Newfoundland by the shipping company OceanEx.

The second decline occurred in late 2001 when a large steel mill and several coal mines were closed by Sydney Steel Corporation and Cape Breton Development Corporation respectively in the Sydney area. This change resulted in the loss of thousands of car loads per year and threatened the financial viability of the line. The railway retains several small industrial customers and wholesalers that create a combined 1,500 car loads per year east of Port Hawkesbury.

Accidents

The CBNS has experienced two significant derailments since taking over operation of the Truro - Sydney railway line from CN in 1993:

On April 18, 2004, westbound freight train 301-18 derailed ten cars at mile 51.7 of the Hopewell Subdivision near Linacy at approximately 23h35 ADT. Nine of the ten derailed cars were loaded with liquified petroleum gas (propane). No individuals were injured, however, two schools and two residences were forced to evacuate for nine days while cleanup operations took place. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigated and determined that the train had been operated safely and that no mechanical defects existed in the locomotives or consist. The investigation determined that the derailment occurred as a result of a track issue; the slower freight train had been operating along a curve that was super-elevated. This type of track configuration dated to the high speed requirements of the Via Rail Canada "Dayliner" passenger trains which were canceled on January 15, 1990. The heavy weight of the slower freight train forced the lower track on the inside of the curve to collapse.

On June 13, 2010, a westbound freight train derailed sixteen cars on the Hopewell Subdivision in Avondale Station. Six of the sixteen derailed cars were loaded with liquified petroleum gas (propane). No individuals were injured, however, several residences were forced to evacuate for multiple days while cleanup operations took place. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is currently investigating. A CBNS official was quoted in local media as stating that a preliminary finding had determined that a defect in a non-CBNS freight car was thought to have caused the derailment."Derailment cleanup keeps families from homes". CBC News. June 14, 2010. A subsequent minor derailment in Stellarton the following week where two freight cars left the tracks during a yard switching operation created a minor media sensation. The derailment coincided with a public debate in Nova Scotia about whether the provincial government would extend the five-year subsidy agreement that was tied to maintaining the Sydney Subdivision (eastern section of the railway) where traffic had declined below sustainable levels. A site visit to view track conditions on the Hopewell Subdivision in Pictou County by Nova Scotia's Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Bill Estabrooks in September 2010 revealed several track defects. Estabrooks stated that such defects could cause the railroad to lose its operating licence from the provincial government; however, RailAmerica argued the defects were minor and the railroad was safe.