While the Federal government effectively abandoned the original Melbourne-to-Brisbane freight rail vision which would have seen it link Melbourne and Brisbane via Shepparton, Tocumwal and Narrandera it has now confirmed that the cost of the line now stopping at Parkes will cost more than $45 billion.

In 2015, Brisbane-based private consortium National Trunk Rail (NTR) proposed a $13 billion freight route linking Melbourne and Brisbane via Shepparton, Tocumwal and Narrandera.

NTR argued the alignment was a “flatter, faster, more efficient” route that passed directly through major food-producing regions, making it more accessible for farmers in Griffith, Leeton, Hay and Hillston.

However, the then Coalition government instead backed the publicly-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation’s (ARTC) route via Albury and Wagga Wagga, which at the time was expected to cost about $10 billion.

Almost a decade later, the projected cost of Inland Rail has increased more than fourfold, despite the Queensland section – one of the most expensive parts of the project – never being built. Independent reviews have blamed poor planning, approval delays and design changes for the blowouts.

Former NTR chairman Martin Albrecht said the outcome was predictable.

“Governments are the wrong people to implement these sorts of projects,” he said.

“Our figures are still on record. We maintain that we could have built the whole thing for $13 billion.

“It should not cost $45 billion if you build the right line and have the right accountability.

“They chose [the Wagga route] on the pretext that they had existing railway lines, so we’ll use that, but that line was not fit for purpose and is not built in the right location.”

Independent Wagga MP Joe McGirr has long warned the current Inland Rail alignment could divide the city in two, with concerns about traffic congestion, ambulance delays near Wagga Base Hospital and the impact of dozens of double-stacked freight trains moving through the CBD each day.

In response to community backlash, the Albanese government pledged $30 million in 2025 to study a future freight rail bypass around Wagga. But with Inland Rail now expected to stop at Parkes, locals fear the bypass may never eventuate – leaving Wagga to endure years of disruption without receiving the promised long-term benefits.

Mr Albrecht said the Riverina alignment would have made more sense economically because it directly serviced major agricultural regions rather than following ageing passenger rail corridors.

The Federal government now plans to complete only the section between Beveridge in Victoria and Parkes by 2027, allowing double-stacked freight trains to connect with existing lines to other parts of the country.