For 125 years, between the arrival of the first train in 1842 and 1967 when the Grand Trunk abandoned its service to Montreal on the St. Lawrence & Atlantic, there had been a continuous presence of passenger trains in Maine's largest city. Most of the railroad activity in Portland revolved around agricultural goods bound for export and import freight from Europe, while passenger activities were mostly confined to intercity travel from Portland to Boston, Montreal, Nova Scotia, and points West. It could be said that local passengers were carried on long-distance trains as something of an afterthought. In Portland's past, train schedules were designed with intercity travel rather than daily commuting in mind.