A regular train service has yet to return to Middlemarch since the Covid-19 pandemic and there is not yet firm backing for an alternative vision of extending the Otago Central Rail Trail.
The Strath Taieri Community Board would like to see the full Taieri Gorge line used again, certainly by trains.
How cycling might also be accommodated was to be looked at by Dunedin City Council consultants and the community board backed this, board member Terina Geddes said.
"The board would support further investigation of a potentially complementary cycleway component for those parts of the line where it can be safely incorporated into the overall railway experience," she said at a council meeting this week.
Extending the rail trail past Middlemarch and through the gorge towards Dunedin has previously been viewed as incompatible with a running a train service, at least for some of the corridor.
The long-term future of the council’s Dunedin Railways company has yet to be settled, but the council has long signalled it would like train services to be restored to Middlemarch.
The council has also previously signalled ratepayers might need to chip in millions of dollars for track maintenance and upgrades.
Ms Geddes said the Middlemarch community required clarity on the future of the train service.
"A definitive answer, along with a clear timeframe for the train’s return to Middlemarch, would be invaluable to our planning and ongoing development efforts."
Board deputy chairwoman Anna Wilson said the rail trail terminated at Middlemarch and the community envisioned a welcoming main street.
Train carriages might best be stored somewhere else, she suggested.
"At present, visitors concluding or starting the rail trail are met with old, derelict and often rusty train carriages, which detract from the area’s appeal," Mrs Wilson said.
"An updated streetscape would provide a more positive and lasting impression aligned with our role as a gateway to the region."
Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board chairman Andrew Simms said after the meeting his board maintained the view the community might be better served by an extension of the rail trail than "the city continuing to operate a loss-making railway operation".
Mr Simms said there was a strong case for the train to return to Middlemarch, but the line had been neglected.
A strong case also existed for the Taieri Gorge to be repurposed as an extension of the rail trail, potentially attracting visitors to Dunedin at a fraction of the cost of rebuilding and operating the railway, he said.
"Both options for the future of the Taieri Gorge, and any other viable options including co-existence, should be presented, considered by the community and the council ... as part of the long-term plan process next year."
