Regular passenger services had been withdrawn in May 1968, but in later years it hosted a series of Northern Belle summer Sunday lunch specials from Aberdeen.

These ceased in 1991 and after several years disuse, the line passed into the hands of the current operator in 1998; regular heritage trains then began running in 2000.

[1] The line is open, and a regular service runs throughout the railway's operating season from March to September.

At Keith Town station, there is a booking office and a shop which sells railway memorabilia, books, Thomas the Tank Engine items and model railway items which are sold by members of the association.

However, there are long-term plans to reconnect to the mainline; there were discussions about this between the K&DRA, the local MSP Richard Lochhead and Transport Scotland in the autumn of 2015.