The budget allocated $110 million as part of a regional tourism infrastructure fund, with regional projects able to access funding to help establish tourism.

The committee driving the Guyra rail trail, where disused railways would be turned into tracks for walking, cycling and horse riding, says there has been plenty of support for its construction. 

Chair of the New England rail trail steering committee David Mills said the group wanted to establish a pilot program involving a 34 kilometre track from Black Mountain to Ben Lomond.

“It’s the highest railway station in Australia,” Mr Mills said.

“It has a huge tourism advantage … showing off the New England high country.” 

The Guyra trail is planning to be based on those in Norway and Sweden, which incorporate parts of the old rail tracks into the trail.

The proposal had gained the majority of stakeholder support, with the last signing up on Sunday. 

Mr Mills says the committee will now ask Adam Marshall to request a meeting with the Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian to put forward the proposal.

Mr Mills said they were in the final stages of drafting the proposal and had gained a lot of community backing, especially through likes on their Facebook page.

“The supportive nature of the community has been fantastic – this is really a massive community project.”

It comes as NSW deputy premier Andrew Stoner announced $1 billion fund would be allocated to infrastructure projects as part of yesterday’s state budget.

Guyra-based Liberal MLC Scot MacDonald said the program might be suitable for state funding, but the project was seeking to be self-sufficient.

“To his credit, David Mills is not going to the state government asking for lots of money,” Mr MacDonald said. 

He said the project would likely seek a little bit of assistance for planning, rather than for its construction.

“I would like see the proposal go ahead because it puts the old rail network to good use.”

Find out what's in the budget for Armidale here.