State election candidates have reinforced their support for keeping Newcastle's heavy rail line.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Pro rail lobby group Save Our Rail invited candidates to speak about transport issues at a public forum on Wednesday night.
Independent candidate Philip Penfold said the government's move to start the truncation despite a Supreme Court injunction was a contemptuous political strategy.
Greens candidate John Brown said he had a personal interest in the rail line because he travelled to work at the Newcastle Herald on the train for 20 years at all times of day and night.
Newcastle candidate for the Christian Democratic Party Milton Caine read a statement from the party's new Maitland candidate Anna Balfour, who was not at the meeting.
The statement suggested that money saved by not truncating the rail could be spent on Maitland Hospital.
Labor candidate Jenny Aitchison said she supported retaining the heavy rail line but the transport debate should also consider transport needs in Maitland's west.