SPRINGFIELD – An effort to provide passenger rail service between Western Massachusetts and Boston is getting a new jolt of federal funding.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has received a nearly $37 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration that will help pay for track, signal and infrastructure improvements at Springfield Union Station, Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced Tuesday.

“This money is needed to provide safe and efficient rail service between Western, Central and Eastern Massachusetts and connect our regional economies in Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester and Boston,” U.S. Senator Ed Markey said in a statement.

Healey’s office said the investment would “increase rail capacity and reduce congestion, paving the way for future West-East Rail service and improving north-south service”.

Healey’s office said the new funding will help officials complete design work for the “Springfield Area Rail Reconstruction Project” to eliminate a “railroad gateway” in western Massachusetts and western New England. The project includes the modernization of rail and signal systems, as well as the improvement of railway facilities and the rehabilitation of station platforms.

Last year, MassDOT won $108 in federal grant funding for the West-East Railroad project to improve the train corridor between Worcester and Springfield.

Healey’s office on Tuesday announced other new federal grants that would strengthen Massachusetts’ freight rail train network, including an $8.9 million award that will be used in part for environmental and safety infrastructure improvements along the Pioneer Valley Highway Railroad from Holyoke to Westfield. made its introduction. There is also a $21.6 million grant for a New England tri-state rail safety and upgrade project, as well as a $19 million grant that Healey’s office said includes facility and track improvements for the Providence and Worcester Railroad.