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On Monday, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.), and several Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and local officials marked the groundbreaking of the Fitchburg Commuter-Rail Improvement Project — the commonwealth’s first rail infrastructure improvement project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

MBTA will receive $10.2 million in stimulus dollars for the first stage of the project, which is designed to improve speed, service and reliability on the Fitchburg line, Massachusetts’ oldest commuter-rail line. The agency will obtain an additional $39 million in ARRA funding for double-tracking work and $150 million in federal New Starts funding for the entire project, which calls for installing switches, signals and a universal crossover, renovating two stations and reconstructing track.

The project will enable MBTA to increase train speed to 80 mph, boost on-time performance by about 12 percent, and reduce operating and maintenance costs on the 50-mile-long corridor between Fitchburg and Boston.