It was purchased by Metro-North in 1995 for $4.2 million from Maybrook Properties, a subsidiary of the Housatonic Railroad, to preserve it for future use, training, and equipment moves.

[5]: ES-1 The Maybrook Line was the main east–west freight service of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which became part of the Penn Central system in 1969, and subsequently Conrail in 1976.

Service was originally from Maybrook, New York, in Orange County, via the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge through Hopewell Junction, where it connected to the Hudson Line via the Beacon Secondary.

The portion west of Hopewell Junction to Maybrook was placed out of service when a fire damaged the Poughkeepsie Bridge on May 8, 1974.

Additional population growth in Dutchess County led to interest in using the line for passenger service.

Ridership would be poor, as it would continue to be more time-efficient for people to take Interstate 84 to Southeast where they could transfer to much more frequent electric service.

Between the Hudson and Harlem lines, the Beacon runs a winding route, visible from many highways in Dutchess County.

Motorists on the Taconic State Parkway can see the Beacon Line crossing underneath the highway between the NY 52 exit and the Carpenter Road intersection.

Running a train between the Danbury Branch and the Beacon Line requires a reverse move.

Currently Metro-North operates a facility along the line in Stormville to train MTA Police dogs.

[9] The Beacon Line serves[citation needed] as a route to move trains between Metro-North's various service and maintenance facilities, without the need to move trains to New York City, the only other place all three east-of-Hudson lines are connected.

The Housatonic Railroad owns the portion up to the Connecticut-New York border, and possesses the rights to use the entire line.

Steep grades over Stormville Mountain are an additional deterrent, especially if longer trains were to be moved.

Dutchess County acquired right-of-way along the Beacon Secondary to continue Phase III of the rail-trail project.

[12] A dual-use bicycle and walking trail, the extended Maybrook Trailway,[13] has been completed along a 25-mile stretch of the Beacon Line from near to the North end of the Putnam County Trailway in Carmel, NY.,[14] northwards to the south end of the Dutchess Rail Trail in Hopewell Junction, NY.

[18] The Housatonic Railroad notified the Surface Transportation Board it was no longer opposing the abandonment in January 2023, and the MTA sought approval to convert the line into a rail trail.

[19] The STB denied Metro-North's abandonment and trail conversion request in July 2023, citing procedural and legal issues with the filing.

The station stops listed (from west to east) are according to railroad timetable and serve as "control points".