TransLink has also forged a new partnership with CP Rail to expand other rail service in the Lower Mainland, which could include a rapid transit line from the airport to Vancouver.

The $26-million in savings for West Coast Express means the subsidy being paid by TransLink -- roughly $16 per trip for each of the 8,000 commuters who now take the train -- will be reduced.

"It's a huge reduction in our costs on the West Coast Express," said Doug McCallum, chair of TransLink, the Lower Mainland's transit authority.

"It will also allow us to increase the service."

Potential expansion includes more routes for the West Coast Express, which runs five trains from Mission, Maple Ridge and Port Moody weekday mornings and evenings. New routes could include a mid-day service or one train travelling to Mission in the morning and another travelling to Vancouver at night.

The cost-cutting is part of a new contract between TransLink and CPR to study how to expand and improve movement of freight and passengers across Greater Vancouver.

"CPR wants to work with us in the movement of people and the movement of goods, and that's a huge change," McCallum said. "It's really exciting for our region for the future, and probably could be a model for across Canada."

Another options being considered is a rapid transit line from Vancouver International Airport to Vancouver. It's not just the 2010 Olympic bid that makes the link so crucial, McCallum said.

"The next step is ... some type of rail transportation between there, whether its SkyTrain technology or some other type of technology," he said. "We need to move that way because the ridership is there already."

The new partnership could not have been reached if CP Rail had not agreed to reduce the price it charges TransLink to run the West Coast Express on its tracks.

CP Rail was accused of gouging taxpayers after details of the 20-year contract signed in 1995 with the B.C. government were made public earlier this year.

Federal Liberal cabinet ministers, backbench MPs, and senators, along with several Lower Mainland mayors, flooded Transport Minister David Collenette's office with letters pushing for cabinet intervention to assist West Coast.

They argued the "excessive" charges should be reduced so commuter services could be expanded, a move that would reduce traffic gridlock and pollution.

The new deal cuts the cost by $26 million over the 13 years remaining in the contract -- $2 million each year beginning Jan. 1. It will not affect a $1.6 million-a-year charge for crews.

TransLink and CP Rail have also begun to study whether CPR's Sapperton right-of-way in New Westminster can accommodate a rapid transit connection from Coquitlam to the new Millennium SkyTrain line, without affecting the corridor's freight capacity.

A rapid transit link along this corridor could be in place sooner and for lower cost than the proposed SkyTrain line through Port Moody, which is expected to carry a $750 million price tag.

"It could be considerably cheaper. The right-of-way is already there," McCallum said.

Another option being pursued is improving the shipping of goods, including better access to ports.

McCallum said the worst bottleneck in the region for freight trains is the Pattullo rail bridge across the Fraser River -- a one-way track that is often delayed because it is also a draw bridge.

"We are going to have to look at studying that to move goods more efficiently," he said.

TransLink estimates there will be 17 per cent more bulk cargo and 249 per cent more container traffic moving across the Lower Mainland over the next 18 years.

Funding for the expansions would have to be shared by CP Rail, TransLink and other partners, McCallum said.