After having no regular services for more than four decades, the line was upgraded and reopened in 2019 by Network Rail, enabling hourly passenger trains between Chester and Liverpool.

[6] During the 1980s and early 1990s, the line was used by a scheduled summer Saturdays-only return service between Liverpool Lime Street and Llandudno.

[8] Railtrack's decision was based on reducing maintenance costs and, by removing the crossings and points on the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line, increase through-train speeds between Liverpool Lime Street and Crewe.

To avoid the expense and inconvenience of a statutory closure process of the Halton Curve, an early morning parliamentary train operated in the summer months every Saturday.

Occasionally traffic between Liverpool and Crewe would also be diverted via the Halton Curve when the main line via Winsford was closed for engineering work.

This same speed limit applied to trains rejoining the 90 mph (140 km/h) West Coast Main Line near Runcorn.

Due to the rarity of rail traffic using the Halton Curve, the parliamentary train became a popular service among local people and railway enthusiasts.

The SRA thought that incorporating the curve into the scheme added a significant extra cost that was not justified given the line's scant service.

This resulted in a concerted effort by the North Cheshire Rail Users Group for the reintroduction of regular services.

In conjunction with the above proposal, Halton Borough Council began investigating the possibility of opening a station at Beechwood to provide a convenient interchange with Runcorn busway.

On 8 March 2005, the then Transport Minister Tony McNulty announced in Parliament that resignalling work that was currently scheduled for 2010 would resolve the Halton Curve issue.

The research project was to be done in conjunction with Merseytravel, Halton Borough Council, the Welsh Government and six county authorities in the north of Wales.

[29][11] In 2017, while the upgrade work was being completed, locomotive maker Alstom proposed using the line to test its zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell trains after it opened a new technology facility at Halebank.