On Friday morning, the B. C. government announced the opening of Metro Vancouver's new rapid transit line three months ahead of schedule.

Early September will witness the launch of the $1.9-billion Canada Line from downtown Vancouver to the Vancouver International Airport and Richmond. Premier Gordon Campbell and other officials went for a test run of the 19 km (12 mile) line, on Friday, along with a few reporters.

Elucidating the advantages of the line, Campbell said that it will make available the same transportation capacity as 10 lanes of roadway along the route, decrease the number of one-way vehicle trips per day by 200,000, and diminish greenhouse gas emissions by 11,000 to 14,000 tonnes a year.

While this line is not being hailed as an Olympic project officially, the provincial and federal governments decided to help fund the SkyTrain expansion earlier than had been planned in order to give a boost to Canada's bid for the Winter Games and make up for the absence of extensive highway system in Vancouver, linking its downtown core with the suburbs and the prevalent state of potential transportation congestion.