At Estrela d'Oeste (SP), the railroad connects with Rumo Logística's Malha Paulista, which provides access to the port of Santos and the economic and industrial hub of São Paulo.

During the first term of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the construction of the railroad to Porto Nacional (TO) and Anápolis (GO) restarted.

The stretch between Colinas (TO) and Porto Nacional (TO), originally scheduled to be inaugurated in September 2010 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, began running at the end of 2012.

[26][27][28][29]On July 20, 2018, President Michel Temer signed Provisional Measure 845, which established the National Railway Development Fund (Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Ferroviário - FNDF).

It guaranteed that the entire amount paid for the concession of the stretch of the North-South Railway between Porto Nacional (TO) and Estrela d'Oeste (SP) would be allocated to the construction of the northern extension, connecting Açailândia (MA) to the port of Vila do Conde, in Barcarena (PA).

[30][31] On March 28, 2019, the Jair Bolsonaro government auctioned off the 1,537 kilometer central stretch of the North-South Railway between Porto Nacional (TO) and Estrela d'Oeste (SP).

[36][37][38] The segment under study linking Panorama (SP) and Rio Grande (RS) is currently called the Southern Extension (Prolongamento Sul).

It was divided into two sections:[52][55] Originally, the stretch linking Panorama (SP) and Porto Murtinho (MS), labeled EF-267, was called the Southern Extension of the North-South Railway.

[56] The stretch linking the port of Vila do Conde in Barcarena (PA) and Açailândia (MA) is called the Northern Extension (Prolongamento Norte) of the North-South Railway.

[7][57][58] Currently, the railroad includes two branch lines: The 720-kilometer stretch between Porto Nacional (TO) and Açailândia (MA) is operated by VLI Multimodal S.A., owner of the Ferrovia Norte-Sul S.A. concessionaire.

It also transports pulp for Suzano Maranhão, which built its own 28 kilometer branch line from the factory in Imperatriz (MA) to the railroad destined for the port of Itaqui.

It runs fuel transportation from São Luís to the terminal in Porto Nacional and plans to ship alcohol from Tocantins to the port of Itaqui.

Between January and October 2017, the port of Itaqui transported 1.184 million tons of pulp and paper produced by the Suzano Papel e Celulose unit in Imperatriz (MA), delivered by the north–south and Carajás railroads.

In 2019, the volume was 7.9 million tons of grain, from eastern and northeastern Mato Grosso, southern Pará and MATOPIBA (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia), the new agricultural hotspot; an increase of 25% on the previous year.

The Santa Helena de Goiás Multimodal Terminal is under construction by Infra S.A.[36][78][79][80] The entire stretch between Porto Nacional (TO) and Estrela d'Oeste (SP) became fully operational in June 2023.