But he wants the federal government to chip in with subsidies to help manufacturers compete in tough international markets.
Brumby said as long as the states continued to make independent, sporadic purchases, local manufacturers would be outpriced by competitors overseas.
He called for the states to pool their buying power and coordinate demand to give the manufacturing industry certainty.
"If you think of the billions of dollars - and that's what you're talking about - of rolling stock that will be procured in the next decade ... by respective state governments - Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland together - it is a great opportunity to generate local jobs," Brumby said.
"But it can't happen if states just go it alone one after another, because it's very, very difficult to compete against the big manufacturers in Europe who've got long, forward (production) pipelines at work."
Brumby said the plan would require federal government support in the form of subsidies like those paid to the motoring, textiles and defence industries.
"All I'm suggesting is, with a national approach and the federal government providing just part of some of the support that's provided to other manufacturing industries, if that was provided in the rolling stock area I think we could substantially lift our local content."
The premier has outlined his plan in a letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Rudd's spokesman confirmed government procurement policies had been raised in the lead-up to the recent Council of Australian Governments meeting.
