AN investment boom may be in Western NSW's future following the multimillion-dollar commitment to the inland rail in the 2016-17 federal budget.
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Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton is suggesting the advancement of the project will make investors and others sit up and take notice.
"What it will do is make businesses, farmers and logistics companies realise that we are actually going to do this and it is not a pipedream," he said.
"It's a 10-year project, but ultimately we will see people looking to the west to invest because of the access to reliable transport of freight."
The budget has provided $594 million for the purchase of the inland rail's land "corridor".
About $300 million has been spent already on pre-construction activities such as detailed corridor planning, environmental assessments and community consultation.
Costed at $10.7 billion, the 1700-kilometre inland rail would connect Melbourne and Brisbane.
Its alignment through eastern Australian takes in Parkes and Narromine.
The government advises that the inland rail will negate the need for Queensland's interstate rail freight to enter the busy greater Sydney rail network.
"Going via Parkes means inland rail will also link Queensland more directly with Perth and Adelaide, completing the backbone of our national rail network," it reports.
By 2050 about 12 million tonnes of freight will be moved between the two cities, twice as much as now.
The inland rail is expected to address the "freight challenge" by reducing the number of trucks travelling the entire length of the corridor by the equivalent of more than 200 B-doubles each day by 2050.
On Wednesday Mr Coulton said the inland rail funding was the "standout" feature of the budget for him.
"I actually mentioned in my first speech (to the Parliament) in February 2008 that I had come to Canberra because the people of Western NSW needed the inland rail," he said.
Candidates for the seat of Parkes in this year's federal poll, Labor's Kate Stewart and the Greens' Matt Parmeter, have also welcomed the inland rail funding.
"I do think it's nice that the National Party seems to have rediscovered inland rail," Ms Stewart said.
Mr Parmeter said the Greens "support the inland rail".
