"[5] In the album version, the instrumental ending features a string section which drops out leaving the solo acoustic guitar playing of Cat Stevens, before the song's fade.

"[6] Yusuf Islam performed the song live at the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Concert ceremony when Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh received the award.

He also performed the song as part of a comedic skit at Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity, and at the New Zealand national remembrance service for the Christchurch mosque shootings, held at Hagley Park on 29 March 2019.

Robert Christgau criticized "Peace Train's" message in his November 1972 Newsday review of a concert by Stevens at the New York Philharmonic Hall: "I don't mind when Johnny Nash sings a charming ditty about how things are getting better, but when Stevens informs the world that we're all on a peace train, I get annoyed.

"[10] After Ayatollah Khomeini announced a fatwa upon Salman Rushdie after the publication of the author's book The Satanic Verses, Stevens made statements supporting the fatwa, saying: Rushdie deserved to die; that he (Stevens) would act as executioner "if we were in an Islamic state and I was ordered by a judge"; and when asked, "would you go to a demonstration where you knew that an effigy was going to be burned?

In 1996, Dolly Parton included a version of "Peace Train",[24] accompanied by South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, on her album of covers Treasures.

Parton produced a CBS television special, airing in November 1996, to promote the album, in which she described "Peace Train" as a personal favorite.

In 1997, Parton released the song as a single and filmed a music video, directed by Christopher Ciccone, brother of entertainer Madonna.

[26] The song has also been covered by Tony Meléndez in 1987, Jann Arden in 2007, Zain Bhikha[27] in 2008, Laleh, Richie Havens, Melanie, Sam Harris, and Rob Tobias and Friends.