Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is preparing to launch his proposal for a high-speed rail network, which one expert tipped would boost Wagga’s population by 10 per cent within five years.

It comes after Mr Turnbull met with a Melbourne-based infrastructure firm to hear the latest proposal for very fast trains, prompting Committee 4 Wagga to predict the project would put Wagga on the “business networking map”.

CEO of the Foundation for Regional Development, Peter Bailey, forecast a “substantial growth in the number of people prepared to live in Wagga”.

“Wagga would see the emergence of high net-worth commuters who would considerably boost the local economy,” Mr Bailey said.

“Once word got out that train services were consistently reliable, you would see 10 per cent population growth in five years.

“It would really have a huge impact, so long as you could get from Wagga to Sydney within two-and-a-half hours.”

While Mr Bailey was effusive in his praise of the concept, he cautioned residents not to expect a bullet train overnight.

“A bullet train would cost a fortune and no federal government has the buckets of money they used to,” he said.

However, very fast trains will be a staple of the prime minister’s infrastructure and cities policy set to be announced ahead of next month’s budget.

The government hopes a “value capture” finance model, which takes advantage of increased land value from new transport infrastructure, or a “betterment tax” which slugs property owners for part of their increased property value, would make the idea viable.

In 2013, the federal government estimated the project would cost up to $114 billion.

Riverina MP Michael McCormack said high speed rail would “make our regional cities capitals in every sense of the word”.

“High speed rail will become a reality down the track, so long as we show the required vision,” he said.

“It will take some time because any sort of rail requires significant environmental impact statements and business cases.

“We would have to bring in foreign capital and foreign know-how from countries in Europe or Asia where it's a great form of transport.”