Construction on an express rail service connecting downtown Toronto to Pearson International Airport will begin this spring, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Monday.

The air rail spur line will shuttle passengers between Union Station and a new passenger station at the airport’s Terminal 1.

The project is expected to create and support more 1,200 jobs and is slated for completion by summer 2014.

"For so many people [Pearson] is the first impression they get of our province and our country. Being able to get to the centre of our largest city in a fast efficient way is part of that very first impression," McGuinty said, adding the connection will be ready in time for the 2015 Pan Am Games.

The link will also have a significant impact on congestion, removing approximately 1.2 car trips in its first year of operation, McGuinty stressed.

The line is being built by AirLINX Transit Partners Inc., a consortium between Aecon Construction and Materials Limited and Dufferin Construction Co., overseen by Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario.

AirLINX won the contract through an open, fair and competitive procurement process, the province said on its website.

When completed, travel time between Union Station and Pearson will be approximately 25 minutes.

More than five million people travel between downtown Toronto and Pearson International Airport and that number is expected to reach nine million by 2020.