Commonwealth Railway was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 1996 (who still owns it today) and is a part of Norfolk Southern's "Thoroughbred Shortline Program".

[2] Another important industry is APM Terminals, which is a modern shipping container port in Portsmouth along the Elizabeth River.

To handle the container traffic to and from the port, the Commonwealth Railway line through the city of Portsmouth has been realigned down the medians of I-664 and SR 164, at a cost of $60 million.

A second phase, paid for by $9 million in federal stimulus funding, will further improve port access and is expected to be completed in September 2011.

[3][4][needs update] The Commonwealth Railway had two GP20 locomotives numbered 2090 and 2091 which were sold in 2019 to Larry's Truck & Electric (LTEX) in McDonald, Ohio.