Canadian National Railway previously had trackage rights on the line, but now operate trains on the Superior Subdivision line of their subsidiary Wisconsin Central Railway between the Twin Ports area and Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

[7] The longest sidings are in Andover and Grasston, each with a length of 9,000 feet (1.7 miles)[8] As of 2009, the Hinckley Subdivision used a combination of track warrant control (TWC) and automatic block signaling (ABS) for managing train movement authorization,[8] which prevents trains from being visible on applications such as ATCS Monitor, although communications can be overheard with radio scanners.

[9] The Northern Lights Express (NLX) between Minneapolis and Duluth is in planning stages, with $195 million appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature in 2023, expected to be the local match for an 20%/80% split between state and federal funding for the service.

[10] While the previous train was limited to between 50 and 79 miles per hour (80 and 127 km/h), the Northern Lights Express would run at up to 90 mph (140 km/h).

[10] Since the end of regular passenger service in 1985, excursion trains have occasionally run on the Hinckley Subdivision.