On the Belgian and Dutch side of the track the route is used extensively by InterCity - Interregio -, local and freight trains.

[citation needed] The Schwalm-Nette-Bahn (RB 34) traverses the line between Mönchengladbach Hbf and Dalheim, directly on the border with the Netherlands.

The Dutch section between Weert-Roermond, since the abandonment of the stations Buggenum, Baexem-Heythuysen, and Kelpen in the 1940s, sees no more regional trains.

These trains link Amsterdam and Schiphol with the South Limburgian cities Heerlen and Maastricht up to every ten minutes.

In addition, the only during peak travel time circulating P-Train (Piekuurtrein / Train d'heure de pointe come) will also use the route.

The government stated it was the result of the increasing transport of goods between the port of Antwerp and the German Ruhr Area.

Currently Belgium uses the Montzenroute [nl], south of the Iron Rhine, from Antwerp to Aachen via Aarschot, Hasselt, Tongeren and Montzen, for transportation of goods to Germany.

The argument that carries most weight in the Netherlands is that the railroad runs through the nature reserve of De Meinweg, and nature activists fear the destruction of the local habitat of several threatened species, whereas Belgian interests consider this to be a delaying tactic while the Netherlands completes the Betuwe line.

After a series of failed negotiations, the Belgian and Dutch governments agreed to take the issue to the Permanent Court of Arbitration and respect its ruling in the case.

In its ruling of 24 May 2005, the court acknowledged both the Belgian rights under the cessation treaty of 1839 and the Dutch concerns for the nature reserve.

[4] However on 11 May 2007, and again in 2013-2014, the Walloon Region opposed the project for fear of seeing employment go down in case of reduced traffic on the Montzenroute.

The need for the train to change direction in Roermond and again in Venlo could be solved easily, e.g. by temporarily adding an additional locomotive at its former "tail" end, to pull it on that part of the line.