R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-6-31
The general assembly finds and declares that the preservation of open spaces and the orderly control and development of unused or undeveloped land bears a substantial relationship to the public health, safety, and welfare of the people of this state. When a railroad is granted permission to abandon any rail line by the Interstate Commerce Commission and gives up use of the entire width of its right of way in that area, an opportunity is afforded for the establishment of a facility for another means of transportation or for a necessary public recreation or conservation area in the community land which was not theretofore readily available. Railroads, by reason of their statutory privilege of land acquisition by condemnation and statutory protection from acquisition of their land by condemnation, are a proper subject for a special statutory procedure for the disposition of their unused or undeveloped lands.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-6-31