Cost of the Inland Rail project blows out to $31 billion and is years behind schedule, review reveals

That's according to an independent review commissioned by the federal government in October and led by Energy Security Board chair Kerry Schott, her findings released on April 6.

Dr Kerry Schott was appointed to undertake the review to assess the governance and delivery of the Inland Rail program, which considers the scope, schedule and cost.

The review found that although the massive project promised many economic benefits and is an "important project", its implementation has so far been dogged by mismanagement and failures of governance, board oversight and risk and project management.

Dr Schott outlines 19 recommendations to improve the delivery of Inland Rail.

The Inland Rail is planned to provide a freight link between Melbourne and Brisbane via inland NSW, passing through Albury, Parkes and Narrabri. By displacing trucks, it is expected to reduce transport emissions by 750,000 tonnes a year by 2025.

But Dr Schott found problems besetting the project meant its cost had ballooned by an "astonishing amount" since 2017, from its initial $8.4 billion to $16.4 billion in 2020 to $31.4 billion.

"The project is late and over budget [and] there is insufficient certainty about the completion date and the final cost to have confidence in the current estimates," Dr Schott said in her report to the government.

The 1700km rail line was expected to operate from 2027 but the latest estimate by the government-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation, which manages the Inland Rail, has completion expected in the early 2030s.

"The route from Melbourne to Parkes is expected to be finished by 2027. This ... estimate is more certain than that for the entire route," Dr Schott said.

The experienced public servant and business figure said the board appointed by the Morrison Government to oversee the project did not have the necessary skills.

"Appointments to the board did not provide the skills required," Dr Schott said.

"While ministers ... have every right to appoint whom they choose ... they also have an obligation to ensure that the business is governed properly and this means paying attention to the skills that are needed. Ministers of the former government did not meet that obligation."

According to the report, over the last 12 years successive governments have ploughed almost $2.6 billion into the project, while the ARTC has contributed $500 million.

Dr Schott found numerous management failings, including starting works "without knowing where it will start or finish".

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King said the report was an indictment of the previous government.

"To leave a project without a start or end point, with a significant budget blowout, and a board without the skills it required is shameful," Ms King said.

"They have let down communities and businesses which have already invested time, effort and money in the prospect of Inland Rail."

Federal Member for Riverina and former Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack has strongly urged the federal government to stay the course regarding the Inland Rail project.

Mr McCormack has been present in Parkes and other towns the Inland Rail passes through for its major milestones since it began five years ago - from when the first sod was turned in Parkes to mark the construction of the entire project in December 2018 to the final pin hammered into place at Peak Hill completing the first section, Parkes to Narromine, in September 2020.

It's a project Parkes Shire Council and farmers had lobbied for for decades.

Mr McCormack said it was a transformational infrastructure project which would reap benefits for residents and businesses across Australia.

"As the Deputy Prime Minster, I managed the signing of the intergovernmental agreements between the federal government and the three relevant state governments, two of which were Labor-led," he said.

"Local governments along the proposed route, including those throughout the Riverina and Central West, were keen to see this nation-building project proceed.

Mr McCormack was critical of the report, saying the parameters put in place were "always going to serve Labor's agenda".

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