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Defunct railroad in southern New England

The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed from several smaller railroads that dated back to 1846. After a bankruptcy in 1893, the NY&NE was reorganized and briefly operated as the New England Railroad before being leased to the competing New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1898. Today, most of the original New York and New England lines have been abandoned. A segment in Massachusetts is now part of the MBTA's Franklin/Foxboro Line providing commuter rail service to South Station in Boston, and another segment near East Hartford and Manchester, Connecticut, is used for freight service on the Connecticut Southern Railroad. Other portions in Connecticut and Rhode Island have been converted to rail trails.

The corridor from Providence, Rhode Island, west into New York was originally chartered as three companies. The Providence and Plainfield Railroad, chartered in June 1846, would run from Providence to the Rhode Island–Connecticut state line. The Hartford and Providence Railroad, incorporated in May 1847, would continue west to Hartford, Connecticut, and the New York and Hartford Railroad, chartered and incorporated in May 1845, would continue to the New York and Harlem Railroad at Brewster, New York. In 1849, the two Connecticut companies merged to form the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad, with a modified charter to continue past Brewster to Fishkill, New York, on the Hudson River, and in 1851 the Rhode Island company was merged into it. Later that year the first section opened, from Hartford east to Willimantic. Extensions opened east to Providence in 1854 and west to Waterbury in 1855. The HP&F went bankrupt on January 1, 1858, and was run by the trustees until 1863, when it was leased by the newly formed Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad.

At the Boston end, the earliest predecessor was the Norfolk County Railroad, chartered April 24, 1847. The line from the Boston and Providence Railroad's branch at Dedham, Massachusetts, southwest to Walpole opened on April 23, 1849, and an extension to the Providence and Worcester Railroad in Blackstone opened May 16. The company went bankrupt soon after. The short Medway Branch Railroad was leased in 1851, opening December 29, 1852. On May 1, 1849, the Southbridge and Blackstone Railroad was incorporated to extend the line west from Blackstone to Southbridge. The Midland Railroad was incorporated May 2, 1850, to build a new entrance to Boston, merging with the existing one south of Dedham. The two companies were consolidated with the Norfolk County Railroad on December 12, 1853, to form the Boston and New York Central Railroad, which had the intent of continuing southwest through Connecticut all the way to New York City. The first section of this extension was incorporated in May 1853 as the East Thompson Railroad, forming the Connecticut portion of the Southbridge and Blackstone. The extension from Blackstone southwest to Mechanicsville, Connecticut, on the Norwich and Worcester Railroad was completed in 1853. In January 1855 the new main line to Boston was opened, but was closed six months later until December 1856 because of an injunction due to the danger of the numerous grade crossings. The new line ran to a terminal at the foot of Summer Street in downtown Boston via South Boston. The full line was first operated as one on June 1, 1855, but again failed quickly. On August 6 operations were restarted on only the original Dedham Blackstone line, operated by the Boston and Providence Railroad as a branch. On March 2, 1857, the trustees took repossession, ending the operation by the B&P. The East Thompson Railroad leased the line, reopening it again in full for about a year before another failure. At that time, all but the original Dedham Blackstone line and Medway Branch were closed until 1867. The closed lines were sold in November 1858 to the Midland Railroad, but were not operated due to bad condition. The Midland Land Damage Company tried again in 1862, changing its name to the Southern Midland Railroad in 1863 without success.

Much of the major foundation of the line of the NY & NE was the legacy of the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad, whose mainline ran from Providence, Rhode Island, west to Plainfield, Connecticut, to Willimantic, to Vernon, to Hartford, to New Britain, to Waterbury, to Danbury, and finally to Brewster, NY. Several portions of the line in Connecticut, including Danbury to Hawleyville and Waterbury to Bristol, were double tracked in the late 1910s. This work included the construction of the Pequabuck Tunnel, which opened in 1910. Until 1955 the NY, NH & H ran passenger trains from Boston to Blackstone, to Putnam, joining the above line at Willimantic and continually finally to Waterbury. This included the weekday limited stops Nutmeg train. The last remnant of service on this line was a Hartford Waterbury segment that ended in the 1960s. As time passed and sections were abandoned, the former NY&NE main lines became minor branches. In 1965, the city of Bristol, Connecticut, paid $15 million to build a new spur (partially using a segment of the pre Pequabuck Tunnel mainline) to a new General Motors plant on Chippens Hill to convince the company to keep its operations in the city.

In addition to the two main lines to Boston and Providence, splitting at Willimantic, numerous branches and auxiliary lines existed.

The original Boston line ended at Dedham with a connection to the Boston and Providence Railroad. In 1883 what had become a branch to Dedham was abandoned. Prior to that, a new branch just to the east had been built in 1881, and was supplemented in 1890 by a connection to the south.

The Medway Branch Railroad from the main line at Norfolk west to Medway was incorporated in 1849 and opened in 1852, being immediately leased to the Norfolk County Railroad. It closed in 1864, two years after the New York and Boston Railroad reached Medway.

The Rhode Island and Massachusetts Railroad was chartered in 1875 and opened in 1877, connecting the main Boston line at Franklin to the Providence and Worcester Railroad at Valley Falls. The New York and New England Railroad leased it in 1887.

The Milford and Woonsocket Railroad was incorporated in 1855 and opened a line from Milford to Bellingham in 1868. It was leased by the Providence and Worcester Railroad until 1883. The Hopkinton Railway was organized in 1870 and opened in 1872, running from Milford north via Hopkinton to the Boston and Worcester Railroad at Ashland. The Providence and Worcester leased it until 1885. In 1884 the Milford and Woonsocket bought the Hopkinton, and the two ran as one. The Milford, Franklin and Providence Railroad was organized in 1868 and opened in 1883, extending the line southeast from Milford to Franklin. On April 1, 1897, the New England Railroad leased all three companies. A short section from Franklin to is in use by MBTA Franklin/Foxboro Line service, while the section from Forge Park to Milford remains in freight use. From Milford to Ashland is abandoned and being converted to the Upper Charles [Rail] Trail. A segment of the Upper Charles Trail completed in 2011 uses the right of way from I 495 to the Hopkinton line. In July 2020, the state awarded $50,000 for design of the Trolley Brook Trail, a segment of rail trail on the right of way in Ashland. It will be the first segment of the of the trail in Ashland.

The line eventually running from Brookline, Massachusetts, to Harrisville, Rhode Island, was originally built as a competitor to the NY&NE's Boston line. The first section opened in 1852 as part of the Charles River Railroad. It reached Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in 1863, and in 1891 the Woonsocket and Pascoag Railroad opened, continuing the line to the Providence and Springfield Railroad at Harrisville. In 1873 the NY&NE obtained the line to Woonsocket via a merger; on April 1, 1896, the New England Railroad leased the continuation past Woonsocket.

The Providence and Springfield Railroad was chartered in 1853 and opened in 1873 from Providence, Rhode Island, northwest to Pascoag. An extension to Douglas Junction on the NY&NE main line in Massachusetts opened in 1893, and the New England Railroad leased the line on July 1, 1896.

The Southbridge Branch from East Thompson, Connecticut, to Southbridge, Massachusetts, was part of the original charter for the Southbridge and Blackstone Railroad, and opened in 1867, after it had been consolidated.

The Pawtuxet Valley Railroad was organized in 1872 and opened and leased to the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad in 1874, running from the main line at River Point to Hope. The New York, Providence and Boston Railroad leased it in 1884 as a continuation of their Pontiac Branch Railroad.

The Norwich and Worcester Railroad was an 1837 consolidation of the Boston, Norwich and New London Railroad Company of Connecticut and the Worcester and Norwich Railroad Company of Massachusetts when both state legislatures passed acts allowing the merger. Neither of these companies had built any railroad but the new one proceeded to build one from Norwich, Connecticut (later New London) north to Worcester, Massachusetts, including the Taft Tunnel at Lisbon, CT. The Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad leased it in 1869, and the lease continued through the reorganizations. Connections were provided with the Providence line at Plainfield and the Boston line between Putnam and Mechanicsville. In 1886 the New England Railroad company renewed the lease that it acquired from the Boston, Hartford, and Erie. Until 1955 the line served as the basis for Boston bypassing run through train, the East Wind from New York to Bangor, Maine, via the Norwich and Worcester line.

The New Haven, Middletown and Willimantic Railroad opened and was leased to the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad in 1873. The BH&E went bankrupt later that year, as did the NHM&W in 1875. The NHM&W became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1879.

The Rockville Railroad was incorporated in 1857 and opened and leased to the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad in 1863. It was a short branch from the main line at Vernon north and east to Rockville.

The South Manchester Railroad was chartered in 1866 and opened and leased to the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad in 1869. It was a short branch from the main line at Manchester south to South Manchester.

The Connecticut Central Railroad was chartered in 1871, and its continuation in Massachusetts, the Springfield and New London Railroad, in 1874, to build a line from East Hartford to Springfield, with a branch to the Rockville Railroad at Westway. It opened in 1876 and was immediately leased by the Connecticut Valley Railroad, which gave up the lease to the New York and New England Railroad in 1880.

The Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad was formed in 1888 as a consolidation of two smaller companies, opening in 1885 and 1888. The New York and New England Railroad leased it in 1892, as a branch from the main line in Waterbury east to Cromwell on the Connecticut River. The company went bankrupt and was reorganized in 1898 as the Middletown, Meriden and Waterbury Railroad, and was immediately leased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

StateMilepostCityStationConnections and notesR. I. ProvidenceProvidenceUnion Station serving all railroads in ProvidenceDike Streetjunction with Providence and Springfield Railroad (NY&NE)junction with New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (NYNH&H), location: Garfield Avenue and Cranston StreetCranstonWest ProvidenceCranstonWarwickNatickWest WarwickRiver Pointjunction with Pawtuxet Valley Railroad (NYNH&H) and Pontiac Branch Railroad (NYNH&H)West WarwickPresumed to serve village of Arctic? Possibility of station formally located at 15 Factory Street CoventryQuidnickAnthonyPossibility of station formally located at Laural Avenue and Pilgrim Avenue WashingtonCoventrySummitGreeneConn. SterlingOnecoSterlingPlainfieldMoosupPlainfieldjunction with Norwich and Worcester Railroad (NY&NE)CanterburyCanterburyLisbonLisbonSpragueVersaillesBalticScotlandScotlandWindhamSouth WindhamWillimanticjunction with New London Northern Railroad (GT), NY&NE line to Boston and Boston and New York Air Line Railroad (NYNH&H)AndoverAndoverBoltonBoltonVernonVernonjunction with Rockville Railroad (NY&NE)ManchesterManchesterjunction with South Manchester Railroad (NY&NE)BucklandEast HartfordBurnsideEast Hartfordjunction with Connecticut Central Railroad (NY&NE)HartfordHartfordjunction with Hartford and New Haven Railroad (NYNH&H), Central New England Railway (NYNH&H) and Hartford and Connecticut Valley Railroad (NYNH&H)West HartfordElmwoodNewingtonNewington Junctionnot a stationjunction with Hartford and New Haven Railroad (NYNH&H)NewingtonNew BritainNew Britainjunction with New Britain and Middletown Railroad (NYNH&H)PlainvillePlainvillejunction with New Haven and Northampton Company (NYNH&H)BristolForestvilleBristolPlymouthTerryvilleWaterburyWaterburyjunction with Naugatuck Railroad (NYNH&H) and Middletown, Meriden and Waterbury Railroad (NYNH&H)OxfordTowanticOxfordSouthburySouthburySouth BritainNewtownSandy HookHawleyvillejunction with Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern Railroad (NYNH&H) and Housatonic Railroad (NYNH&H)BrookfieldBerkshire Junctionnot a stationjunction with New York, Housatonic and Northern Railroad (NYNH&H)DanburyDanburyjunction with New York, Housatonic and Northern Railroad (NYNH&H) and Danbury and Norwalk Railroad (NYNH&H)Mill PlainN. Y. BrewsterBrewsterjunction with New York and Putnam Railroad (NYC) and New York and Harlem Railroad (NYC)Towner'sTownersbridge over New York and Harlem Railroad (NYC)Hopewell JunctionHopewell Junctionjunction with Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad (NYNH&H) and Dutchess County Railroad (NYNH&H)

For stations between Boston and , see Fairmount Line. For the line those between Dedham and , see Norfolk County Railroad. StateMilepostCityStationConnections and notesMass. DouglasEast DouglasDouglasDouglas Junctionnot a stationjunction with Providence and Springfield Railroad (NY&NE)Conn. ThompsonEast Thompsonjunction with Southbridge BranchThompsonMechanicsvillenot a stationoriginal junction with Norwich and Worcester Railroad (NY&NE)PutnamPutnamjunction with Norwich and Worcester Railroad (NY&NE)PomfretPomfretAbingtonElliottHamptonHamptonClarks CornerWindhamNorth WindhamWillimanticjunction with New London Northern Railroad (GT), NY&NE line to Providence and Boston and New York Air Line Railroad (NYNH&H)

Within the last 10 years, funds have been set aside for a rails to trails conversion. As January 2014, the easternmost segments spanning from Garfield Avenue/Cranston Street (near Amtrak's Northeast Corridor), West Warwick (former Riverpoint/Hope Railway spur point) and Coventry have continuous pavement totaling to approximately 14.2 miles