ALP candidate Stephen Jones is a big supporter of the stalled railway, which would join the Highlands and the coast if completed.

He said it was “a crying shame” the project was cancelled by the Nick Greiner-led State Govern­ment in 1988.

Mr Jones said the Common­wealth Labor government had done the groundwork in the past three years to get the project, which comes with a price tag of $550million, back to the feasibility study stage.

“I’ll be agitating for it,” he said.

A pre-feasibility study released in July last year showed there were a number of benefits to resurrecting the link, including stimulating job growth, reduced congestion on road and rail links, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Juliet Arkwright, the Liberal candidate for Throsby, agrees there are potential benefits to the completion of the line, but believes it is unlikely to happen in the near future.

National candidate Alan Hay has previously said he also supports the development of the line.

“It would go a long way to making Moss Vale an inland port,” he said. “Every train will remove 53 trucks from our roads.”

Greens candidate Peter Moran agreed the link would stimulate development of the Moss Vale inland port.

“As we move the economy toward a low-carbon model, we have to put more freight on rail,” he said. “The Maldon-Dombarton line does that in a number of ways.”

There were some environmental costs associated with building the rail in protected bushland.