Labor shadow cabinet minister David Harris, who visited Armidale last week, said the party has a broad position not to "quickly" support closing rail corridors. But they had yet to work out a specific view on the rail line that runs north of Armidale to Wallangarra .

"That was part of the reason for my going there, because I've got to go back now and talk to shadow cabinet and we have to form a policy position," he said.

"Our current position is that we don't quickly support closing rail corridors. That's our general position.

"But for example we did vote for the one down in southern NSW because the community convinced us that it was in the best interests overall of the community and there was no real long term value in keeping the corridor.

"So that would be the criteria that we would use because it's the old adage - once it's gone you can't get it back again!"

In 2017 Labor voted to eliminate a rail line between Tumbarumba and Rosewood in southern NSW, a decision by parliament David Harris said was contentious.

He was invited to the New England by Armidale Labor councilor Debra O'Brien, whose made transport issues a central plank of her unsuccessful campaign at the March state election.

She is supporting a proposal by the New England Train Action Group to reopen the line between Armidale and Guyra, and to run a heritage tourism service operating on a regular timetable between the two towns.

Mr Harris said he will study the submission and then return in the New Year.

NSW government minister for regional transport Paul Toole recently said "there are no plans to reinstate rail services to the north of Armidale" in response to a question in budget estimates by Greens MLC Abigail Boyd.

"However the government would consider proposals to do so should a sound business case be presented."

Mr Harris said the pro-rail camp need to prove that reestablishing the rail line would have greater community benefit then it would cost and said he will raise in parliament the idea of holding a full economic study of the viability of reopening the line.

Glen Innes Severn and Armidale Regional councils have both financially supported a business plan into a proposed New England rail trail. Some $34,740 has been raised to fund a plan so far.

Because railways are governed by state law they can only be formally closed by a vote of parliament. The rail line was closed to revenue service in the late 1980s.

Estimates of the cost of restoring the line so it could be reopened range from millions to billions, but the Glen Innes Severn council estimated the cost of rebuilding the Armidale to Wallagarra section of the line at $265 million in a government submission in 2007.

MORE NEWS: