MONTREAL - The provincial government is throwing its support behind improving commuter train service to Montreal's West Island, in a plan that appears to be at odds with a project preferred by the Aeroports de Montreal.

Several ministers were present Monday as the government announced it would immediately fund a $22-million engineering study of the line preferred by the Metropolitan Transit Agency (AMT), which runs trains from Lucien L'Allier station to Vaudreuil-Dorion.

The 18-month study will draft a design for two new tracks parallel to the train corridor that is currently used for commuter and freight trains.

The current proposal endorsed by the provincial government calls for trains to run between 5:30 and midnight every day, with trains every 12 minutes during peak hours, and every 30 minutes outside of rush hour.

That would be a huge improvement over current train service, which is extremely spotty outside of rush hour.

The AMT hopes to use existing stations between Lachine and Ste. Anne de Bellevue, and wants to have everything completed and ready to take on passengers by 2015.

Clifford Lincoln, former MNA and MP for the West Island, has been one of the local politicians lobbying for a new commuter train line.

He says this is a good first step for the government, but he wants tracks ready by even earlier.

"It's not a feasibility study, it's an engineering study-concept so we appreciate that this has got to be done," said Lincoln.

"Once this is done we are full steam ahead and we're just going to push and push for it to be completed by 2014."

Lincoln says a new train line is desperately needed, especially with the constant repair work taking place along the Highway 20 corridor and the impending reconstruction of the Turcot interchange.

Squabble over train tracks

For the past few years the AMT and the agency that runs Trudeau International Airport (ADM) have been arguing about the best way to improve train service between downtown Montreal, Dorval, and the West Island.

Last year, the ADM said it was willing to support a $600 million project to run a train shuttle from the airport to Central Station, with no stops in between, and that the provincial government was willing to provide $200 million in funding.

For its part, the AMT said it preferred using the existing stations and train corridor, with the downtown terminal being Lucien L'Allier station.