at the west end of the terminal trackage on its own line while the ICR trains used the mainline. In 1918, the ICR was merged into the new federal Crown corporation Canadian National Railways (CNR). The large sandstone railway station in Truro saw constant use through the First World War, Great Depression, Second World War and the post-war era. It was during the 1950s and 1960s that passenger rail traffic began to drop as a result of increased taxpayer-funded highways and airports, thus by the late 1960s, CN was looking at reducing its operating costs for historic railway station buildings, as well as eliminating unproductive railway property that it was paying tax upon. In 1972 CN, to the chagrin of many residents in the town, demolished the large sandstone station building and replaced it with a linear concrete strip mall (called the Truro Centre) which served to separate the town from the active rail yard opposite the station. A new passenger station was placed in the strip mall in the same location as the predecessor railway stations. The DAR (operated as CP Rail) continued to offer a mixed train service from Truro to Windsor during the 1970s but from a new passenger/freight station at the west end of the town on Willow Street. In 1978, CN and CP transferred responsibility for their passenger services to a new federal Crown corporation Via Rail; at this time the mixed train service on the DAR to Windsor was cancelled. Passenger rail service in Truro as offered by Via Rail was relatively stable during the 1980s as the town enjoyed a moderate frequency of trains. This came to an abrupt halt on 15 January 1990 after massive budget cuts to Via Rail saw rail service from Truro to Sydney, as well as to Edmundston, New Brunswick annulled, leaving Truro with only the 6 day/week Ocean service from Halifax to Montreal. Further cuts in June 2012 resulted in "The Ocean" being reduced to three trips per week. During the early 2000s, CN removed all of the yard trackage in the vicinity of the station with only a mainline to Moncton and a mainline to Sydney left in operation. The platforms at the station were reduced to the one on the Halifax-Moncton mainline. An anti-graffiti plan by the town has seen large decorative murals painted on the trackside of the Truro Centre east and west of