Inter-city services on the route, which include some of the longest passenger journeys in the UK such as Aberdeen to Penzance, are operated by CrossCountry.

From Birmingham to the north-northeast, the line had three separately owned sections, namely the: From the Labour Government's nationalisation in 1948 until privatisation in 1990, the route ran through all six regions of British Rail but did not have timetabling priority in any of them.

[citation needed] Most Derby–Nottingham local passenger trains were taken over by diesel units from 14 April 1958, taking about 34 minutes between the two cities.

[1][full citation needed] In the 1990s most services were operated by British Rail's InterCity business unit.

In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying the cross-country route by 2000.