Prior to the opening of the East Side Railroad Tunnel in 1908, there was no direct connection between Providence Union Station and railroad lines on the eastern bank of the Seekonk River; for instance, trains traveling between Bristol and Union Station would have utilized a less direct route along what is now the East Junction Branch and the Northeast Corridor.

During the late nineteenth-century, the Old Colony Railroad made attempts to run full size freight cars over at-grade trolley tracks from India Point to Union Station; however, this resulted in frequent derailments.

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the Old Colony Lines in 1883; this initiated renewed interest in constructing an east-side access corridor to Union Station.

[4] The East-Side Tunnel was first envisioned in 1903 as a more direct connection between the old Union Station in the center of Providence with several other New Haven-acquired railroad lines that ran east of the Seekonk River.

[1] The project also included the Crook Point Bascule Bridge over the Seekonk River and a downtown Providence rail viaduct.

Between 1908 and 1934, the tunnel was electrified with a 600 Volt DC overhead single-wire trolley system to accommodate electric passenger trains from Providence to Bristol, Rhode Island and Fall River, Massachusetts.

The newly independent Providence and Worcester Railroad assumed operation of the line later in 1976; however, the Bristol Secondary was abandoned by the end of that year.

[12] There have also been sporadic calls by Providence city officials to reutilize the East Side Tunnel as a light-rail alignment; however, no project has ever been formally proposed.