Tamworth traffic light technicians non-existent, which is 'just absurd' to Mark Rodda

It comes after the Brisbane and Marius street lights began flashing amber on Friday afternoon, and Newcastle Transport for NSW technicians couldn't fix the problem until about 9pm.

Police were on the scene to begin with, then traffic controllers took over for the remainder of the time until technicians arrived.

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Mr Rodda said he went through the lights at about 3.30pm, close to when the lights first went out.

"They weren't fixed until 9pm so six hours ... that's a pretty poor use of human resources to have them there for that amount of time for just a set of traffic lights," he told the Leader.

"It's just absurd. Imagine the cost they're charging them to travel say from Newcastle, so four hours of travelling, it's big money."

He said it would make more sense to train a local electrician and engage them as a contractor so if there was a problem, it could be rectified much faster.

It's not the first time technicians have been told from a coastal location, either.

"In this post-privatised world, they need to get a bit smarter in managing incidents like this, and one perfect example is to employ a local, train them up to do that work and be available at a moment's notice," Mr Rodda said. "We've certainly got people with the expertise to do those sorts of things, but for reasons of costs they determine they can keep them elsewhere, which is ridiculous."

He said with numerous sets of lights in Tamworth, the situation could become even worse if numerous lights went out at the same time.

Transport for NSW was contacted but was unavailable to respond on Monday.

Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said he was unaware of the issue.