The Providence and Worcester Railroad is a Class II railroad operating 612 miles (985 km) of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build a railroad between Providence, Rhode Island, and Worcester, Massachusetts, and ran its first trains in 1847. A successful railroad, the P&W subsequently expanded with a branch to East Providence, Rhode Island, and for a time leased two small Massachusetts railroads. Originally a single track, its busy mainline was double-tracked after a fatal 1853 collision in Valley Falls, Rhode Island.

The East Providence Branch is a railroad line in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in the United States. It connects Valley Falls, Rhode Island, to East Providence, Rhode Island, via South Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The branch was originally built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) in 1874, connecting its main line to a coal dock in East Providence, and was 7 miles (11 km) in length. At East Providence, the branch also met the East Junction Branch of the Boston and Providence Railroad and the mainline of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad. Built as a single-track railroad with bridges and the right-of-way prepared for future double-tracking, the line was fully double-tracked from 1892 to 1895; the second track was eventually removed.