Yesterday Green Party co-leader James Shaw said with the gorge out of action for a while, trains could take some of the stress off the alternative Saddle road route.
"Passenger rail should be part of the long-term solution for the route through the gorge," he said.
"In time, we'd look at extending the new service all the way to Wellington, essentially restoring the Napier-Wellington service."
The gorge has been closed since mid-April. Visiting it earlier this week, Transport Minister Simon Bridges promised a more resilient alternative route to replace it - with a preferred option expected in December.
Although local figures have welcomed the idea of the service, there have been some doubts over its feasibility.
Tararua mayor Tracey Collis, whose Woodville constituents have been hit hard by the gorge's closure, said such a service would "expose more people to our district".
"I think with the challenges we've got with the gorge at the moment, people would enjoy that trip," she said.
However, she was not sure if the number of commuters from Tararua would support the service - an estimated 7500 cars pass through the gorge daily, but she believed less than 200 people commuted between Palmerston and the district.
This concern was shared by Napier mayor Bill Dalton, who said he personally doubted there would be enough demand for the service. However, if it was found to be commercially sound, he would "support it all the way".
"Anything on rail has tourism opportunities because it goes through different land than most people see, and anything that connects Napier to the rest of the country has got to be good for tourism," he said.
Napier MP Stuart Nash said he thought the economics of it would be "very, very tenuous", as it was unlikely there were enough daily commuters between Napier and Palmerston North.
"If the economics of it stacked up then it's worth considering, but I would have thought if the economics of having a train between Napier and Palmerston was viable then KiwiRail would have done this a long time ago."
The Green Party candidate for the Napier seat, Damon Rusden, was positive about the service's feasibility, as he thought there would be enough demand once it started.
"With these kinds of projects it's about opening opportunity rather than relying on statistics," he said.
"It's the only viable alternative. And it's an opportunity to provide ... efficient public transport by train, it benefits both the region and its carbon friendly."
The estimated $3.7million cost of the service in its first year included $2million to purchase decommissioned Auckland Transport diesel-powered SA/SD trains and $30,000 to refurbish the Woodville Station.
An ongoing passenger subsidy of $1.2million a year was estimated.
As well as not being financially viable, Napier's National Party candidate David Elliott said there was a chance of slips closing the rail-line through the gorge.
He said the cost of the service would take "money and energy away from completing a permanent solution to traffic through the gorge, which is of a more pressing nature to the people of Hawkes Bay."
Napier Maori Party candidate Maryanne Marsters said this appeared similar to her party's recently launched Iwi Rail concept.
"I'm all for that, I think anything that can link up regions with others is good."
Democrats for Social Credit candidate Karl Matthys said he would support the proposal.
