It was announced last year that from December 22, freight trains would be travelling through town at 80 kilometres per hour, up from 20 km/h.

A NSW Transport spokesperson said that the 20 km/h speed restriction had only been in place since July 2012 with upgrades now allowing speeds to return to 80km/h. 

Councillor Donald said "we don't understand why they need that speed through an urban area".

"It has been raised as a matter of safety, and many people have questioned why the speeds have increased and why it is necessary," Cr Donald said. 

He believes that the road level crossings in town are not suited for the increased speed and pose a threat to residents safety.  

Cr Donald said that at the eastern end of town, where a stop sign is the only warning for vehicles, visibility of trains entering town is not clear. 

"If they [rail network] need to travel through residential areas so fast they need to have boom gates, lights and bells at the other two crossings, similar to the ones in the middle of town," he said, adding the level crossing near Nyngan High School lacked necessary safety features. 

"It has the lights and bells, but there is no safety crossing for pedestrians or schoolkids," Cr Donald said.

The train speeds through Dubbo and Narromine are 70 and 55 km/h respectively. 

“Narromine like Nyngan has residential areas either side of the rail line,” Cr Donald said.

“Our people are just as valuable as the people there.”

A NSW Transport spokesperson has said, “The train speed is not quadrupling as the speed limit remains 80km/hr. We are removing the temporary speed restriction near the station.

“Dubbo and Narromine are classified as ‘junction locations’ meaning trains will often carry out shunting operations at these locations. As a result the speed through these locations may be lower than in other areas such as Nyngan.

“Consideration is given to the presence of pedestrian and level crossings in settling speed limits through populated areas, as well as visibility and stopping requirements.

​“Existing controls, such as level crossings and the public footbridge, were in place prior to the speed restriction being introduced, and meet required standards.”

NSW Transport has encouraged motorists and pedestrians to approach level crossings with caution, and obey safety warnings. 

The council has sent their concerns to John Holland Rail and Barwon MP Kevin Humphries.

"The state wants us to keep them informed, we haven't heard back from the rail authorities,” Cr Donald said.

"We have invited them to our next council meeting to speak with myself and general manager Derek Francis about why they need to go so quickly.

"We certainly hope they will revert back to the safer speed of 20km/h as they have for many years."