The town's railway station has been closed since the 1980s.

But with Harcourt's population set to boom residents are calling for services to begin again.

Residents hope for easier access to Bendigo and Melbourne by public transport as the town grows.

Read more: Bendigo to Kyneton upgrades promised, Harcourt Station touted

The state government promised the Harcourt station would be re-opened as part of the Bendigo Metro Project if it were re-elected in the 2018 election.

The 2019 state budget provided funding to plan to re-open a station at Harcourt.

The town's residents have begun a petition calling for train services to resume to the town, to keep it on politicians' radars.

Harcourt Progress Association chair Sha Cordingley said rail services would make Harcourt more liveable, given the growth happening.

Residents must travel 10 to 20 minutes to Castlemaine or 25 to Bendigo to catch V/Line services.

Read more: Family hopes 100 year old train signal box can have new life

Ms Cordingley said the community wanted some sort of service, but hadn't locked in preferred times yet.

The town's population is expected to grow to as many as 3000 people by 2021. About 1000 people lived in Harcourt in 2016.

The Loddon Mallee South Regional Growth Plan identified Harcourt as a rural town with the potential for significant population growth.

Ms Cordingley said train services would be useful for people living in Harcourt who wanted to travel to Bendigo or Melbourne by train.

She said residents hoped tourists would be able to travel by train to Harcourt to use the La Larr Ba Gauwa mountain bike park.

Read more: Mini trains in giant Harcourt plan

Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards said rail services would mean a boom period for Harcourt.

Ms Edwards said patronage on that part of the Bendigo line had increased significantly over the past few years.

"For a town like Harcourt where we know the population is growing ... and there's already housing developments along that way. It makes it a really important public transport option for people who live in that area," Ms Edwards said.

"More people would be attracted to live in Harcourt [with rail services], there's no doubt about that. It's increasingly popular as a tourist destination as well."

The Harcourt Progress Association plans to present the petition to the state parliament this year.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.