Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad

Conrail acquired the line in 1976, and later sold some of it to the Norfolk Southern to relieve that company's ex-Nickel Plate Road main line. CSX Transportation acquired the entire line in the 1999 breakup of Conrail, and began to make improvements, including new crossing signals, paving crossings, and weed-whacking the railroad. After this was complete, signs were posted at each crossing notifying motorists of an increase in train traffic.

In 2004, operations under the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad name began; from the beginning of operations, the railroad has been owned by RailAmerica.

In 2011, Joseph (Joe) Parsons, a former Norfolk Southern supervisor, was named General Manager of the Chicago, Fort Wayne, & Eastern Railroad, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion. Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012, and ownership of the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern was transferred to the G&W.

As of 2023, there are many interchanges in CFE:

BNSF (Chicago, Illinois); Belt Railway of Chicago (Chicago); Canadian National (Chicago); CPKC (Chicago); Chicago Rail Link (Chicago); Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad (Chicago); CSX (Crestline, Ohio and Lima, Ohio); Gary Railway (Chicago); Iowa Interstate Railroad (Chicago); Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (Chicago); Indiana & Ohio Railway (Lima); Manufacturers' Junction Railway (Chicago); Norfolk Southern (Fort Wayne, Indiana and Lima); South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway (Chicago); Union Pacific (Chicago); Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (Chicago).