The federal project is designed to to improve speeds and tonnage capacity along 1700 kilometres of railway between Brisbane and Melbourne via regional NSW.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) last month held community information sessions at Junee, Illabo, Bethungra, Stockinbingal, Temora and Cootamundra about Inland Rail's newest section as construction moves south from Parkes.

Inland Rail is also likely to cause significant traffic disruption in Wagga when works reach the city as the Edmondson Street bridge will need to be lifted to allow carriages with double-stacked shipping containers to pass underneath.

The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee has now released a report titled 'Inland Rail: derailed from the start" that warned community and industry support for the project is at risk.

Muttama farmer Ms Vivien Thomson told the committee that many NSW landholders did not feel listened to, and that government representatives failed to provide any support.

"Some [landholders] had no choice but to open that gate extremely reluctantly, because they feel they're not being listened to very well and not even being given the time of day. I know there are a lot of people here who have been speaking to state and federal politicians here and in the Riverina," she said.

"They're constantly passing the buck, and they're not answering any questions or even listening to any of their concerns. When you are treated like that, it's very disrespectful.

"They're being told one thing and the goalposts are constantly changing. This causes so much stress and anxiety for our farmers on top of everything else that we're going through."

The report itself noted multiple potential benefits from Inland Rail for Wagga and the Riverina, including expanded cotton crops, stimulating the need for new rail and air freight hubs at Wagga and encouraging food processing and consumer goods warehouse businesses across the region.

"Despite the committee's support for Inland Rail, it holds real concern that the economic benefit may not be fully realised by many of the communities along the proposed alignment and recognises more needs to be done to garner broader support for the project," the report stated.

"There is an unavoidable impact on some communities and landholders of major infrastructure projects like Inland Rail. It is therefore imperative that those impacted are adequately consulted and their concerns mitigated where possible, and with payment of appropriate compensation, to ensure there is a collective benefit gained by the project.

"This inquiry has revealed significant shortcomings in the ARTC's efforts to meaningfully engage with communities and landholders along the proposed alignment of Inland Rail. These failures have significantly undermined public trust in the ARTC and its management of Australia's largest rail infrastructure project."

The report recommended new oversight and review processes for inland Rail as well as an independent mediator to improve consultation with major stakeholders such as the CWA and NSW Farmers.

Riverina MP Michael McCormack said Communities and businesses along the Inland Rail route should not be concerned about the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee's report.

"[The report forms] part of the transparent process to ensure the best-possible outcomes for all involved in the project, including those involved in consultation," he said.

"The federal government will respond to the 26 recommendations from the report once they have been considered."

Labor duty Senator for the Riverina Deborah O'Neill said the report had revealed government mismanagement of an important project for the region.

If you want to know about the Morrison Government's mismanagement of the Inland Rail project, you just have to read the title of the Senate report - "Inland Rail: derailed from the start". This project has been derailed from the start by Liberal-National mismanagement," she said.

"The Senate Report reaffirms the importance of the Inland Rail project and highlights the need for better planning, better community consultation and better oversight.

"Communities and industries in the Riverina along the Inland rail path deserve better than this hapless government that still has no plan where Inland Rail will start, where it will end, the route it will take or how it will interact with existing stations up and down the country."

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