File photo. Photo: daboost/123RF
A passenger rail advocate says Hawke's Bay would benefit from reinstating its passenger rail connection.
A recent report by parliament's Transport and Infrastructure Committee recommended the investigation of more train services in Hawke's Bay.
A spokesperson for The Future Is Rail and Save Our Trains, Paul Callister, said it would provide options for an ageing population.
"What we've found, especially in the small towns, is a lot of people who are getting older, getting more disabled and suchlike, they're actually stranded," he said. "They can't drive and trains are fantastic for them."
He said the region was served by passenger trains for more than 120 years, with the train service between Wellington and Napier ending in 2001.
"Everything's really changed since 2001, we are in this climate crisis and we do need to reduce emissions, so trains are a fantastic way of doing that," he said.
Callister said that amid a climate crisis, trains were much lower on emissions than flying or driving.