The MBTA scored a federal grant of nearly half a billion dollars to completely replace the bridge that carries trains to north of Boston through North Station, officials announced Monday.

The more than $472 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will replace the North Station Draw One Bridge, which is nearly a century old.

It’s the largest federal award the transit agency has ever won, Governor Maura Healey’s office said. 

“As someone who often commutes from North of Boston, I know firsthand what a difference this bridge replacement will make,” Lieutenant Governor and former Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said in a statement. “Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration and the MBTA, riders will have faster, safer and more reliable rides to and from North Station.”

A spokesperson for the MBTA said the National Infrastructure Project Assistance grant fully funds the replacement of the bridge, while other elements of the project will be funded through future MBTA capital improvement plans.

The drawbridge, which crosses the Charles River and connects Boston and Cambridge, currently supports Amtrak trains and Haverhill, Lowell, Newburyport/Rockport, and Fitchburg Commuter Rail lines on two moveable spans with four tracks. More than 11 million passengers use the bridge each year, officials said.

Lawmakers: Bridge failure ‘becoming increasingly possible’

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation supported the grant application in an April letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. They said bridge failure “is becoming increasingly possible.”

“The MBTA transit system will not support the failure of this bridge: heavy rail and bus service in the project area do not have the capacity to support mode transfers for the 10.67M+ passengers per year who will be impacted by bridge failure,” the letter said. “This project is the most urgent and integral funding priority for the MBTA and essential to our constituents, especially those who are transit-dependent.”

The bridge will be completely replaced and modernized, Healey’s office said, which will improve safety and service. The new bridge will have an additional moveable span compared to the current bridge and additional tracks, according to the project site. The project is now in its design phase.

The project will also replace a control tower, extend the bridge platform, connect tracks 11 and 12 to the existing network, improve stations, and upgrade general infrastructure, officials said. 

The replacement is also slated to bring more than 14,500 jobs to the area.

Previously, the state secured another large grant to replace the dilapidated Cape Cod bridges. Healey announced a $1 billion grant to replace the Sagamore Bridge in July.