East Junction Branch

The construction of the Crook Point Bascule Bridge allowed access to Providence Union Station via the East Junction Branch

The B&P was leased by the Old Colony Railroad in 1888 and the line was labeled as the India Point Branch. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad leased the Old Colony in 1893.

The electrification of the Providence, Warren & Bristol in 1900 increased the feasibility of a mile-long tunnel under College Hill to provide a way of getting trains from the east bay to Union Station in the center of Providence and an alternate route to Boston. The Crook Point Bascule Bridge along with the East Side Tunnel and a downtown viaduct were put into service on November 15, 1908.[11]

By 1903, passenger service was provided by a single combination baggage/passenger car pulled by a steam locomotive, which ran two round trips daily between East Providence and East Junction. The only regular stop was at Rumford, while a flag stop was also maintained at Perrin's. Passenger numbers averaged in the single digits per trip, and sometimes the train ran with no passengers at all; tickets could not be purchased in Providence and the Providence Journal attested that most local residents were unaware the passenger train was available. This train continued running to fulfil the New Haven's requirement to provide passenger service on the line, which held far more value as a route for freight trains.[12]

The New Haven sought to double-track the branch between East Providence and East Junction, and approval for this work along with the elimination of several grade crossings came in October 1912. This was intended to allow for a continuous double-tracked route from East Junction to the Crook Point Bridge.[13] This work was budgeted at $405,000 in 1910.[14] As part of the construction, Rumford station was to be moved approximately 500 feet east. Pawtucket Avenue (Rhode Island Route 114 / U.S. Route 1A) was to be grade-separated with a new bridge.[13] Double tracking was completed by November 1913.[15]

Regular passenger service was discontinued by 1914. While regular passenger service never returned to the branch, dedicated passenger trains connecting to Narragansett Park were introduced by 1937 and continued until the end of the New Haven Railroad in 1968.[9]

In 1969 the New Haven was merged into Penn Central Transportation; soon thereafter, all passenger services between Union Station via the East Junction branch ceased.[16] The MBTA acquired the piece in Massachusetts on January 27, 1973, despite it not seeing any passenger service.[17] The newly independent Providence and Worcester Railroad assumed operations on the Rhode Island portion of the branch in 1976, while PC successor Conrail inherited freight rights on the Massachusetts portion.[18]

When Rhode Island ended passenger rail subsidies for MBTA services to Providence in 1981, a potential commuter rail extension of the Attleboro line to a new terminus near Newman Avenue in Seekonk via the East Junction Branch was briefly considered. Service subsidies to Rhode Island were restored in 1988 which negated the need for a Seekonk station; north Seekonk would instead be serviced by South Attleboro station which opened along the Northeast Corridor in 1990.

The line from Wilkesbarre Pier to Bristol was officially abandoned in 1976 due to low freight demand. That same year, the Crook Point Bascule Bridge, East Side Tunnel, and India Point Bridge were also abandoned.[19] The east side viaduct was demolished when the Northeast Corridor was re-routed to facilitate remodeling of the downtown area of Providence in the early 1980s; Providence Station would replace the old Union Station in 1986.

A map of the Rhode Island portion of the branch in 1993, showing its connection to the East Providence Branch

Boston and Providence Railroad milestone in East Providence

The branch breaks from the Northeast Corridor at East Junction in Attleboro; an MBTA yard was formerly located at the junction. The branch travels southward through rural areas of Seekonk before entering Pawtucket where it crosses the Ten Mile River in Slater Park. The line continues into Rumford where it crosses the Boston and Providence Railroad Bridge; the branch then curves westward and connects to the East Providence Branch via a new track built by the P&W in 2006.

Freight would continue to service a scrapyard at Wilkesbarre Pier until the early 2000s.[20] CSX placed most of the Seekonk portion of the branch out of service in 2001 excluding the northernmost portion in Attleboro where an active customer remained; this 1.81 mile segment has remained in a state of neglect for over twenty years despite the line being considered active.[18] In 2006, the final half of a mile in East Providence was abandoned by the P&W, with a new connection built to the East Providence Branch. P&W continued to serve only the Rhode Island portion of the East Junction Branch until 2007, when a metals customer north of Newman Avenue in Seekonk asked for renewed rail service. P&W returned the line to service into Seekonk for the new customer that year.[18]