Providence track relocation

I spent a few days in Providence a couple of weeks ago and stayed at the wonderful old Biltmore Hotel, which overlooks the city's historic Union Station. I had never spent much time in Providence before, and had only marginal knowledge of the relocation of the CSX (New Haven) Shore Line through the city, which occurred in the late '80s. Can someone fill me in on the details? Why was the relocation done, and what did it involve?

I walked out in back of Union Station (beautifully renovated, and the home of the R.I. Foundation plus a number of pubs, etc.), and briefly attended a concert in the riverside park amphitheater. There is absolutely --- and I mean absolutely --- no sign that a railroad ever ran through there. The obliteration was complete.

It was a part of a real estate deal. The Providence & Worcester was the owner of most of the property that constituted the Shore Line Route from Boston Switch to Union Station and it was their deal. Amtrak got a modern station to replace an ancient structure that was far too large for its needs and extremely expensive to maintain and operate.
I haven't been to that part of PVD for a few years; did you locate the East Side Tunnel under College Hill (Brown University) that was the route of the PW & B Branch into old Union Station? How about the still active bus, former trackless trolley, former trolley tunnel that provides a shortcut for several transit routes into downtown Providence?

I've read here and there about a tunnel in Providence, but other than it having been on the old PW&B branch, I didn't (and don't) know much of anything about it. I walked underneath Union Station through what I gather was once a rail tunnel perpendicular to the building (? --- there's a "hump" in the street on the business district side). Am I way off here? Where did the tunnel go vis-a-vis the depot? Where does one find it on the other side of College Hill? Is it "off limits" to the public?

I haven't been to that part of Providence for about a decade. To spot the PW & B Tunnel, you stood at the Boston end of PUS (Providence Union Station). The mainline to Boston curved to the left. The PW & B Tunnel was directly in front of you. The PW & B crossed over a street on a grider bridge (removed some years back) and went directly into the tunnel. The tunnel was double-tracked in passenger days. That area was quite neglected in the early 1990s. There was an abandoned Post Office building there too.
I rode the PW & B, but not the PUS-East Providence segment that includes the tunnel on an RRE RDC trip called the Bristol Boat Train in July, 1966. Boston-East Jct.-East Providence-Bristol and then boat cruise on Narragansett Bay down as far as Newport and up to Fall River, but no intermediate landings. Great trip, 2 RDCs.
If you want to find the bus former tt former trolley timetable find RIPTA's site and look for schedules with Tunnel in the route name and you'll get more info with a route diagram. It's near RISD.

That should say trolley tunnel not trolley timetable! in my previous post.
(Last paragraph.)[/i]

Union Station also existed in addition to the former New Haven Station, that burned down 10 or 15 years ago? I had not realized that there were two rail stations in downtown Providence. Correct? Very interesting.

Any more info on the history of this area would be welcomed. I'll try to look around a bit on my next trip from NJ to Tiverton, probably in 3 weeks or so.

The New Haven Station of 1907 or so was PUS although by the time it was built to replace an earlier PUS, all the rail properties in the area were in the New Haven family.
The earlier PUS would have hosted P & W, B & P, HP & F, NYP & B and others.
I too thought the 1907 era depot was destroyed in a spectacular blaze some years ago after Amtrak moved out and it was being prepared for redevelopment. Bad as the fire was, the structure was salvaged and it is part of the downtown redevelopment. (Maybe the fire was a plus!)