WestNet Rail has given the State Government until today to commit to $45 million upgrade works or it will cease operations on four lines available to transport grain in the Wheatbelt.

WA Local Government Association President, Cr Bill Mitchell said if rail lines ceased operations there would be increased grain transport demands on local roads which comprise 72% of all roads in WA.

Cr Mitchell met this morning with Shire Presidents and Chief Executive Officers from the Local Governments that would be impacted by the rail lines ceasing operations.

He said as a result of the meeting, the Local Governments had decided to individually assess the potential impact on their local roads and the cost to Councils with increased heavy vehicle traffic.

"If grain can no longer be transported by rail then it will be taken to port by road, and that potentially has a significant impact on the costs to Local Government in repairs and maintenance," he said.

"It is not a solution to the need to fund rail upgrades by shifting the transport of grain to local roads as this just creates the need for more expenditure on road maintenance."

To prevent the State Government shifting the cost of the grain transport onto Local Government, this morning’s meeting agreed that permits may no longer be issued for operators of the larger grain trucks.

Under the current system, concession permits are required from Local Government to operate over weight vehicles on local roads.

If Local Governments refuse to issue these permits, the roads will effectively be closed to the larger trucks, forcing haulage operators to either use smaller trucks or only use the Main Roads network.

"If the State Government does not want to commit investment in the rail network then it will have to be prepared to invest more in local road funding to Local Government," Cr Mitchell said.

"Local Government simply can’t afford to pick up the ongoing costs of the failure to use the rail network to transport grain."