in operating condition. In September 2005, the Government of Nova Scotia announced that it had reached an agreement with the CBNS whereby the government would provide the railway with a $10 million subsidy to keep the rail line from Port Hawkesbury to Sydney open for the next five years, expiring in March 2010. In return, CBNS withdrew its application to the NSUARB for permission to abandon this section of its main line. A one-year extension of this subsidy was approved by the government in September 2010 that was retroactive to April 2010. On 3 October 2011, it was announced that the government had agreed to continue the subsidy for three more years, allowing RailAmerica access to $2 million over the timespan of the deal. Freight service for this section of the main line is currently provided by a small twice-weekly freight train that operates as a round trip between Sydney and Port Hawkesbury. Freight service west of Port Hawkesbury to the CN interchange at Truro is operated six times per week by larger freight trains. In 2008, the holding company RailAmerica which was the corporate owner of CBNS at the time, encountered significant financial pressure from its corporate owner Fortress Investment Group. This saw CBNS dramatically increase the rates it charged to individuals and companies accessing railway property (e.g. driveways, storage, utility lines and pipes, etc.). The resulting backlash saw the provincial government under Premier Rodney MacDonald and his successor Darrell Dexter attempt to negotiate a means to regulate such rates. In June 2014, the holding company Genesee & Wyoming Inc announced that it would not be seeking a renewal of the provincial government's maintenance subsidy granted since 2005 in exchange for keeping the Sydney Subdivision operating. The company has announced its intention to seek approval to abandon the line in fall 2014 from its regulator, the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. As of 2019, the railway is still operated by Genesee & Wyoming, and the province continues to provide over $400,000 a year in subsidies to the company for its operations. This subsidy will be reviewed in 2020. Some municipal officials have criticized the standard of maintenance of the line in the Port Hawkesbury area. Genesee & Wyoming has ended 135 years of rail service to Sydney. The last 301 (westbound) left Sydney December 30, 2014. Under new provincial legislation the railway can't apply to abandon the line