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Caltrain will receive $3.2 million in U.S. Department of Transportation grant funds to install an advanced signal system to support modernized service and the eventual addition of high-speed rail, Caltrain officials announced yesterday.

A portion of the funds also may be used to identify other safety improvements at grade crossings.

The advanced signal system installation is part of the $1.5 billion Caltrain Modernization Program and includes positive train control technology. The agency also plans to convert its diesel-driven system to an electrical system.

“This funding will go a long way toward modernizing the Peninsula’s transit system and helping our local economy,” said U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) in a prepared statement.

The grant will be used with local and regional monies to match $705 million in voter-approved high-speed rail funds recently appropriated by the California State Legislature for investment in Caltrain’s modernization, agency officials said.

Meanwhile, Caltrain’s average weekday ridership surpassed the 50,000 mark for the firs time in the railroad’s 150-year years. An average of 50,390 riders traveled on Caltrain each weekday in June. The total ridership for the month reached 1.3 million, an 11 percent gain compared with June 2011.

In response to the record ridership, Caltrain will restore four midday trains that were eliminated last year due to budget cuts.