Parkes ecstatic over $8.4b for inland rail

The Elvis Express famously delivers hundreds of Presley impersonators to Parkes every year but within a decade it'll be freight trains shaking up the NSW town.

Parkes - which is 365 kilometres west of Sydney and home to the annual Elvis Festival - is to become a freight hub at the intersection of two transcontinental railways.

An allocation of $8.4 billion in Tuesday's budget has secured the future of the Melbourne to Brisbane rail link, which is due to be operating by 2025.

Parkes will then be at the intersection point of Australia's two transcontinental railways. The existing east-west route links Sydney to Adelaide via Parkes before continuing to Perth.

Construction on the 1700km Melbourne to Brisbane freight line will begin this year and Parkes' mayor says councils in the area are "absolutely ecstatic".

"It's enormously important for Parkes," Ken Keith told AAP on Wednesday.

The town of 12,000 people has already invested millions on water and sewage systems to ensure the area is ready for the growth the project will bring, the mayor said.

Beyond Parkes, many other towns situated along the line will also benefit from the project.

"Everybody along the route will be able to link into the spine of opportunity," Mr Keith said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the freight line will benefit the whole state.

"When you improve the freight pass, when you improve safety on your highways, that is a huge boost for our NSW residents," Ms Berejiklian told parliament.

A report by Regional Development Australia Central West in 2016 found the inland rail route would have an economic impact of $216 million over 60 years.

The state's farmers are thrilled the rail link has been secured by a "bit of national vision", NSW Farmers spokesperson Peter Wilson says.

Around a third of farmers' costs are transport-related and an ability to cut prices would be positive, Mr Wilson told AAP from his farm in Trangie near Dubbo.

"Anywhere on that route is going to get significant freight savings, you are going to get a lot of trucks off the road," he said.

"I was expecting perhaps $2 or $3 billion ... but to get $8.4 billion is a significant injection and at least we'll know the thing is going to happen."