POPULAR WORDS

NSW residents are being told to brace themselves for a spike in truck numbers due to an inland rail link project being scrapped.

Opposition spokesman on transport Andrew Stoner has accused the Rees Government of failing North Coast residents by not securing funding for the inland rail.

Although welcoming funding for the Kempsey bypass, Stoner says the decision to abandon an inland rail link in favour of metro rail in Sydney will put pressure on North Coast roads and the Pacific Highway.

"Nathan Rees pursued wrong priorities by going after $5 billion for rail in Sydney ahead of seeking money for inland rail,” Stoner says.

"Trucks could have been moved off the Pacific Highway but it now appears this project has been shelved.”

The Rudd Government allocated $91 million to the metro project, which is expected to cost $5.3 billion.

Stoner claims more vital projects could have been funded if the Government had not focused on a metro rail link.

The NSW Nationals leader has also criticised the Government’s approach to the Pacific Highway upgrade, saying it should have been converted to a dual lane carriageway by 2006.