Parts of the line in Wales are used by freight trains, serving Deeside Industrial Park and the Hanson Cement works to the south of Buckley.

[5] There have been various proposals for the line to be fully or partially integrated with the electrified Merseyrail network to increase services towards Liverpool.

The line is used by freight trains at its southern end in Wales, serving Deeside Industrial Park and the Hanson Cement works south of Buckley.

[16] It was initially proposed in 2018, that Transport for Wales would double the line's frequency to 2tph, starting from December 2021,[10] using the newly-introduced Class 230 trains.

In March 2021, Transport for Wales pledged to Flintshire councillors that the line's services would increase to 4tph and extend into Liverpool.

[17][20] The operator claimed that the new freight service would block the northbound line between Penyffordd and Buckley for 30 minutes due to the splitting of trains into and out of the short sidings.

[21] Local councillors in Wrexham and the Wrexham-Bidston Rail Users' Association voiced concerns that the conflicting applications could jeopardise the planned increase in frequency to 2tph.

[28][29] The doubling of the journey frequency on the line is one of the aims of the Growth Track 360 group, a consortium of business, politicians and public sector leaders.

The group aims to improve transport and create jobs in the North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire area over the next 20 years.

[30] In the 2017 Autumn budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond stated that part of the additional £1.2 billion funding Wales was receiving would be used to look into proposals to improve journey times on the line and developing a business case.

The draft of the Network Rail Welsh Route Study in March 2015 contained several suggestions for improving services on the line, including:.

[39][40][41] There is political support to electrify the line from both Welsh and Merseyside authorities, but the responsibility of rail infrastructure lies with the UK Government's Department for Transport.

[44][45] In 2017, Merseyside councillor Liam Robinson stated that passenger use on the line had increased 75% over the previous decade but electrification was still a long-term aspiration.

He also stated that the new Class 777 rolling stock, which can operate on overhead wires, third rail or batteries was being procured for Merseyrail, and could run on the line.

[48] Bi-modal battery electric diesel Class 230s for Transport for Wales entered passenger service on the line on 3 April 2023.

[36] A trial of a converted Electrostar train using energy from overhead wires and batteries when on non-electrified sections of track was undertaken in January and February 2015 on the Mayflower line.

[60] A month later in March 2015, the introduction of battery powered trains was proposed for the Borderlands line by Network Rail.

[36] The Network Rail document suggested that consideration had been given to electrification and to extending the terminus from Bidston further into Birkenhead for greater connectivity.

[17] Deeside.com and Wrexham.com, local news websites, stated there is speculation that Transport for Wales have bought or leased Class 150s from another train operating company for the planned increase in services on the line.

[64] Following their introduction, the trains by June 2023, were still not running to their timetabled times, experiencing "minor technical issues" and "teething" problems.

[67] There are aspirations to extend services from Bidston onto the Merseyrail Wirral Line taking trains into the Birkenhead and Liverpool underground sections.

[17][11]The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority announced that trials of the seven battery electric multiple unit (BEMU) versions of their new Class 777 had shown that they were capable of travelling up to 20 miles (32 km) between charges.