The new spokesman for a rail lobby group in north-west Victoria says the Mildura council should make the return of passenger rail a greater priority.

Mildura Development Corporation's former chief executive, Chris Crewther, has been appointed as key spokesman for the North-West Rail Alliance.

The State Government is set to announce its preferred route to standardise the rail line across the Wimmera-Mallee under its $220 million freight upgrade.

Mr Crewther is advocating for a 23-tonne axle loading and a route that would allow for the return of passenger rail but said more money would be needed.

He said he would like to see more local support to bring back the service.

"I would like to see a passenger rail service placed within the top three priorities within the local council and I would like to see a strong commitment by a number of local community organisations as well as the community getting behind it," he said.

"That push to ensure that passenger rail services can be returned by 2019.

"I would like to see more local support for rail both in terms of freight and passenger rail services.

"We need to look at the three aspects for connectivity to Mildura and not only Mildura but the towns in between such as St Arnaud, Birchip, Ouyen and Donald and so forth.

"We need to look at rail, we need to look at air transportation and we need to look at road transportation."