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The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) recently received a $295 million federal grant to improve the Harold Interlocking, a junction point in Sunnyside Yards used by MTA Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak trains to travel into and out of New York City.

Construction is slated to begin in September 2012, according to a press release from U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).

The funding is part of $2 billion in high-speed rail grants announced by the federal government in May. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo applied for the grant in April after Florida Gov. Rick Scott rejected high-speed rail funds for his state.

“This project will relieve one of the worst choke points in our entire transit system, pave the way for high-speed rail [along the Northeast Corridor], create 9,200 jobs and boost the economy by more than a half-billion dollars,” Maloney said.

Harold Interlocking is the busiest passenger-rail junction in North America, with 783 trains moving through the interlocking daily, according to the release.