The station saw intensive traffic during World War Two, moving military personnel to East Coast bases and overseas. Station use declined in the postwar period as part of the broad loss of rail passenger traffic. Locals runs, which also served as suburban trains for Halifax, were the first to be discontinued. CN cut one of its three daily Halifax-Montreal trains, the "Maritime Express" during the early 1970s, leaving only "Scotian" and the "Ocean Limited", along with various local services to New Brunswick and Sydney provided by Dayliners. The Dominion Atlantic Railway also gradually reduced departures to a single daily voyage in each direction from the Halifax Railway Station to Yarmouth via Kentville and Digby.