PORTLAND, Ore. -- The first substantial piece of the West side's growing mass transit system rolled into town Thursday.

The first car for the new Westside Express commuter railway arrived Thursday, in addition to the diesel engine. The new rail line has been in the planning stages for years and this first car marks a big step.

 Poll: Will you use it?

The train will run from Wilsonville to Beaverton. It will cycle through every thirty minutes during morning and evening rush hours and was expected to carry up to 4,000 passengers on an average weekday.

"We've been hearing about it for a long time now. It's about time, actually," said Cynthia Cedergren of Tigard.

The train will be the first commuter rail car in the state of Oregon.

"I work in Hubbard, so I was thinking how awesome it would be to take the train into here and then ride a bike into Hubbard. I’m working toward that, actually; save some fuel costs," said Cedergren.

There will be five stations along the nearly fifteen mile route through Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville. It's something people who live on the west side have been wanting for awhile.

"I used to live in Portland and there were certainly mass transit opportunities in the core of Portland and I like the idea of bringing more of those opportunities out here,” said Jay Tinker of Wilsonville.

The commuter rail service line will be powered by diesel and will travel at around 60 miles per hour.

“These cars will operate on an actual rail track part of the general railroad system within the united states,” said Jeffrey Lowe, director of the TriMet commuter rail.

The car construction required much more stringent safety measures required by the Federal Railroad Administration, said Lowe.

“The purpose here is to get folks out of their cars and onto the commuter train,” he added.

Cedergren says she’s on track with that, “I've lived in a lot of different cities and I'm amazed. I don't think they want you to use cars in Portland,” she laughed and added, “It’s better for the environment.”

Another reason to take the commuter rail to work instead of driving?

TriMet planners predict that by the year 2020, the travel time between Beaverton and Wilsonville will take 40 minutes by car but only 27 minutes on the train.