The Central Corridor Project Office in the Twin Cities will recommend a contractor in June for the heavy construction work for the line's eastern seven miles. The Metropolitan Council is expected to make the award June 23.

At its May 24 meeting, the Safford, Ariz., City Council unanimously voted to instruct city staff to negotiate selling city land to the Arizona Eastern Railway so it can build a rail spur to the Safford copper mine, the Eastern Arizona Courier reports.

Neil Lucey has been named a senior vice president in the New York office of Parsons. In his new position, Lucey will serve as area manager for PB's New York office, responsible for client management and project performance of all New York operations.

Customers on the Port Authority's PATH rail system now can simply "tap and go" with their credit cards, under a regional six-month pilot program that began today. Eleven of PATH's 13 stations (except the Christopher and 9th street stations) have been equipped with special payment readers, allowing riders to tap a contactless credit card or other device like a key fob to pay fares.

Last summer, the sagging economy spurred Phoenix to indefinitely delay construction of the northwestern extension of Metro light rail, The Arizona Republic reports. But to prepare for future light-rail construction, work in the corridor continues, in July the city plans to begin two projects that will beautify 19th Avenue frontage roads near Bethany Home Road and Dunlap Avenue. Motorists will see road restrictions for several weeks starting in August.

Denver Regional Transportation District General Manager Phillip Washington noted the completion of recruitments for several key RTD positions. These recruitments have been under way since February as part of GM Washington's reorganization and restructuring of the agency, and will not require an increase in headcount.

Each weekend in June, there will be major track work taking place to address Metro's priority of maintaining a state of good repair on the Red, Blue and Green lines. In addition, construction work on the extension of rail to Dulles will take place on the Orange Line. All of June's weekend projects will impact travel times and cause delays. 

Union Pacific will improve Nebraska's transportation infrastructure with a $5-million investment to improve the rail line that runs from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Fremont, Neb. Work on the more-than-33-mile stretch of railroad track began May 26 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.

CN has awarded a contract to Roche Ltd. Consulting Group of Quebec City to perform a comprehensive engineering inspection of the Quebec Bridge, which spans the St. Lawrence River between Quebec City and Levis.

Caltrain's plan to electrify and modernize Peninsula commuter rail service received a critical and historic approval from the federal government yesterday - clearance to run the most modern equipment available in the world. The Federal Railroad Administration issued a waiver of longstanding rules that prohibit what is known as "mixed traffic" - operating standard American trains and lighter rail equipment on the same tracks.