Intermediate stations on the route are now served by East Midlands Railway's hourly service between Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln.

In June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies recommended reopening of the line to passenger services with stations at Kirby Muxloe, Bagworth, Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Moira and Gresley.

[4] One station on the Derby–Birmingham main line, Willington, past the western (Burton) end of the route, was constructed in the mid 1990s with Ivanhoe branding and painted in the according blue livery.

Syston station will be rebuilt around 2013 during a Leicester area re-signalling scheme[5] as part of Network Rails Route Utilisation Strategy for freight.

[7] In 2022 the closed section of the line was one of nine schemes chosen to undergo a feasibility scrutiny by Network Rail as part of the government's Restoring Your Railway programme.