Parkes MP Mark Coulton defends Inland Rail after review finds 'serious problems'

It was announced the cost of Australia's largest rail project has doubled to $31.4 billion and the report by Kerry Schott said there are major problems such as delays, environmental challenges and inexperienced project managers.

The report said construction began "somewhat surprisingly", without knowing where the route would start or finish.

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Parkes MP Mr Coulton, who has long been a supporter of the project, said that was "nonsense" because everyone knew where it was going to end.

"The final intermodal spot was up to negotiations with the state governments and the local councils but everyone knew where it was going to go," he said.

The coalition government in 2015 said the project would cost $10.7 billion, then $16.4 billion in 2020 and the railway was expected to operate from 2027.

Mr Coulton said the $31 billion price tag was an "eye watering amount" and something he would have to drill into to see where that came from.

The latest estimate by the government-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation, which manages the Inland Rail, was $31.4 billion with completion expected in the early 2030s.

"The work we have seen in Western NSW is pretty well gone to plan and budget but some of the cost increases have come from landholder and public requests," he said.

The blow out of the cost was also a sign of the times and the longer the project is delayed the higher the cost will go, Mr Coulton said.

Dr Schott recommended in the report some work should stop to get costs under control.

"My point is it's 13 projects, there are hundreds of people already constructing this, so there's not enough workforce in Australia to build this all at once and if we were going to build this all at once we wouldn't have laid a single sleeper yet," Mr Coulton said.

Dr Schott made several recommendations, including that Inland Rail be made a subsidiary company to allow it greater control of project management and the approvals process.

This was a recommendation Mr Coulton did agree with.

"Setting up a completely separate corporation so that ARTC can concentrate on their operations and Inland Rail can concentrate on building inland rail," he said.

Dr Schott said the proposed schedule should be regarded with "great caution" but not abandoned.

"Nowhere in the report does it say there isn't a need for Inland Rail and nowhere does it criticise or suggest the route through my electorate is in the wrong place or has been mismanaged," Mr Coulton said.

With the inland rail completed in two spots in Mr Coulton's electorate, he said he has noticed more freight efficiencies for local farmers.

"So part of this project has already paid its way, there are grain trains going up and down that on a regular basis every day now to Moree which is already starting to pay its way and improve the productivity," he said.

While the Parkes MP said he wasn't dismissing Dr Schott's report, he was calling on Infrastructure Minister Catherine King to commit to the project.

"As we speak there are 100 or so farmers in my electorate that need the confirmation that this project is going ahead, some of them are in the process of negotiating access, some are in the process of negotiating sale of their property and they need clarity around that, I think the route is in the right place there is no suggestion that would change," he said.

"Anyone that wants to suggest this is an opportunity to re-look at the entire route through Western NSW is making mischief because the report doesn't cover that."

Mr Coulton also questioned why the report was released the day before the Easter holidays and why Minister King wasn't prepared to bring it up during parliament last week.

"Why she didn't defend that in the floor of parliament is a mystery to me," she said.

"I proudly stand here as someone who is very strongly in support of the instigation of this project.

"I don't want to see this report used as an opportunity to damn the work that's been done. I think the people that have worked on this project in my electorate should be very proud of what they've done."

The rail track corporation's board had "weak" expertise in engineering, safety, environment and sustainability and contracts, something its members raised with coalition government ministers responsible for board appointments, Dr Schott's report said.

But Mr Coulton said at no point has there been talk of corruption or mismanagement but if fine tuning the board to have that skill is a suggestion, he thinks it is fair.

"The work that is being done on the ground is absolutely world class, the completed sections are as good as any railroad anywhere in the world," he said.

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