A (New York City Subway service)

For other uses, see A Train (disambiguation).
Eighth Avenue Express

An A train made of R46 cars at 88th Street, bound for Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Note: dashed line shows rush hour only service
Northern end Inwood – 207th Street
Southern end Lefferts Boulevard, Far Rockaway, or Rockaway Park (limited rush hour service)
Stations 66[1]
Rolling stock R32, R46, R68A
Depot Pitkin Yard

The A Eighth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored vivid blue since it uses the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan.[2] The A operates between 207th Street in Inwood, Manhattan and Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens, or Lefferts Boulevard in Richmond Hill, Queens. The A is the Central Park West / Eighth Avenue Express in Manhattan, Fulton Street Express in Brooklyn, and Liberty Avenue / Rockaway Local in Queens during daytime hours. The A provides the longest one-seat ride in the system, at 32 miles (51 km) between Inwood and Far Rockaway and has a weekday ridership of 600,000.[1] Five rush hour trips run to and from Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Park, Queens, in the peak direction.[note 1] At all times, a shuttle train (S – Rockaway Park Shuttle) operates between Broad Channel, where it connects with the A, and Rockaway Park.[3] During late nights, the A makes all stops along its entire route and originates/terminates at Far Rockaway only; a shuttle train (Lefferts Boulevard Shuttle) runs between Euclid Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard.[note 2][4]

History

The A and AA were the first services on the IND Eighth Avenue Line when it opened on September 10, 1932. The Independent Subway System (IND) used single letters to refer to express services and double letters for local services. The A ran express between 207th Street and Chambers Street/World Trade Center, and the AA ran local between 168th Street and Chambers St/World Trade Center, known at the time as Hudson Terminal. During late nights and Sundays, the A did not run and the AA made all stops along the line.[5]

The A was extended to Jay Street – Borough Hall on February 1, 1933, when the Cranberry Street Tunnel to Brooklyn opened; an extension to Bergen Street opened on March 20, and to Church Avenue on October 7.[6]

On April 9, 1936, the IND Fulton Street Line was opened to Rockaway Avenue. The 1936 completion played an integral part in the establishment of Bedford-Stuyvesant as Brooklyn's central African American community. The A train connected Harlem, Manhattan's central African American community to areas of Bedford-Stuyvesant that provided residential opportunities for African Americans not found throughout the rest of New York City.[7]

On December 30, 1946 and November 28, 1948, the line was extended to Broadway – East New York (now Broadway Junction) and Euclid Avenue, respectively.[8]

On October 24, 1949, express service in Brooklyn to Broadway – East New York began with the A running express during rush hours, with the E extended to provide local service.[6][9]

On April 29, 1956, Grant Avenue was opened, and the line was extended over the BMT Fulton Street Line to Lefferts Boulevard. Weekdays except midnights, alternate trains terminated at Lefferts Boulevard and at Euclid Avenue. During weekends, they terminated at Euclid Avenue with a shuttle to Lefferts Boulevard.[6]

Two months later, on June 28, 1956, the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Line was rebuilt to subway specifications,[10] and service began to Rockaway Park[11] and Wavecrest (Beach 25th Street).[12] At this time, rush hour express service on the Fulton Street Line with the E train began.

On September 16, 1956, the A was extended to the Rockaways replacing the E. At the time, alternate trains continued running to Lefferts Boulevard.[6] On January 27, 1957, non-rush hour through service to the Rockaways was discontinued and was replaced by a shuttle running between Euclid Avenue and Wavecrest (now Beach 25th Street). Non-rush hour A train service is now to Lefferts Boulevard. This may also be the time that the E replaced the A again in the Rockaways.

On January 16, 1958, a new terminal was created at Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue, and the through connection to the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway station was severed. On September 8, 1958, the A train replaced the E train in the Rockaways again. "Round-robin" service from Euclid Avenue to both Rockaway terminals began, non-rush hours, while through A service runs to Lefferts Boulevard. In September 1959, the A begins to run local in Brooklyn at all times, as the E becomes express in Brooklyn.[6]

In 1963, the E train was extended to the Rockaways, and the A train ran local to Euclid Avenue or Lefferts Boulevard at all times. (HH shuttle service from Euclid Avenue provided all service to the Rockaways).

On July 9, 1967, the A train was extended to Far Rockaway middays, evenings, and weekends, replacing the HH shuttle on that branch. Five years later, it would also be extended during rush hours.

On January 2, 1973, the A train became the express service along Fulton Street and the E train became the local.[13][14] Finally, in 1976, the C became the Fulton Street Local during rush hours.[15]

On September 30, 1990, A trains began operating local between 145th Street and 168th Street during evenings and late nights, and local between 168th Street and Chambers Street during late nights.[16]

Until 1993, the A train ran to Lefferts Boulevard during late nights, while the Far Rockaway service did not run late nights; at this time, a transfer to a shuttle at Euclid Avenue was available. In 1993, this pattern was switched, with late-night A service running to Far Rockaway. Since then an A shuttle started providing service from Euclid Avenue to Lefferts Boulevard during late nights. A few years later, special A service began running from Rockaway Park to Dyckman Street during the morning rush, and from 59th Street – Columbus Circle to Rockaway Park during the evening rush. In 1999, the A became the express on the Fulton Street Line, after C service was moved from World Trade Center to Euclid Avenue during that time. Express service was also expanded to weekday evening, weekend, and late night hours at that time.[1][17]

On January 23, 2005, a fire at the Chambers Street signal room crippled A and C service. Initial assessments suggested that it would take several years to restore normal service, but the damaged equipment was replaced with available spare parts, and normal service resumed on April 21.[18][19]

A service was affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 due to extreme damage to the IND Rockaway Line. Trains that normally traveled to Far Rockaway or Rockaway Park terminated at Howard Beach – JFK Airport. Service to the Rockaways resumed on May 30, 2013.[20][21] The Far Rockaway part of the route was served by the temporary free H shuttle that ran between Far Rockaway and Beach 90th Street via the connecting track at Hammels Wye.[22][23][24]

In popular culture

Take the A Train is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn, referring to the A train, going at that time from eastern Brooklyn up into Harlem and northern Manhattan, using the express tracks in Manhattan. It became the signature tune of Duke Ellington and often opened the shows of Ella Fitzgerald.[25] Part of the significance of this is sociological; it connected Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, the two largest black neighborhoods in New York City.

Route

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by the A, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Line From To Tracks Times
Lefferts
Service		 Rockaway
Services
all ex.
nights		 late
nights		 all ex.
nights		 late
nights		 rush
peak
IND Eighth Avenue Line (full line) Inwood – 207th Street 168th Street all          
163rd Street – Amsterdam Avenue Canal Street express  
local        
Chambers Street High Street all      
IND Fulton Street Line (full line) Jay Street – MetroTech Shepherd Avenue express  
local        
Euclid Avenue all        
Grant Avenue Rockaway Boulevard local
104th Street Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard    
IND Rockaway Line (full line) Aqueduct Racetrack Howard Beach – JFK Airport          
Broad Channel all
Beach 67th Street Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue  
Beach 90th Street Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street      

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.

Station service legend
Stops all times
Stops late nights only
Stops weekdays only
Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details
Stations Subway transfers Connections/Other Notes
Manhattan
Eighth Avenue Line
Inwood – 207th Street Bx12 Select Bus Service
Dyckman Street Northern terminal for some weekday rush hour trains
190th Street
181st Street
175th Street George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal
168th Street C 
1  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)		 Northern terminal for some weekday rush hour trains
163rd Street – Amsterdam Avenue
155th Street
145th Street C 
B  D  (IND Concourse Line)
135th Street
125th Street B  C  D  M60 Select Bus Service to LaGuardia Airport
116th Street
Cathedral Parkway – 110th Street
103rd Street
96th Street
86th Street M86 Select Bus Service
81st Street – Museum of Natural History
72nd Street
59th Street – Columbus Circle B  C  D 
1  2  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)
50th Street E  (IND Queens Boulevard Line) Station is ADA-accessible in the southbound direction only.
42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal C  E 
1  2  3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)
7  <7> (IRT Flushing Line)
N  Q  R  (BMT Broadway Line)
S  (42nd Street Shuttle)
at Times Square – 42nd Street		 Port Authority Bus Terminal
M34A Select Bus Service
34th Street – Penn Station C  E  M34 / M34A Select Bus Service
Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit at Pennsylvania Station
23rd Street E 
14th Street C  E 
L  (BMT Canarsie Line)
West Fourth Street – Washington Square C  E 
B  D  F  M  (IND Sixth Avenue Line)		 PATH at Ninth Street
Spring Street E 
Canal Street C  E 
Chambers Street C  E 
2  3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line at Park Place)		 PATH at World Trade Center
Fulton Street C 
2  3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)
4  5  (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
J  Z  (BMT Nassau Street Line)
Connection to N  R  (BMT Broadway Line) at Cortlandt Street via Dey Street Passageway
Brooklyn
High Street C 
Fulton Street Line
Jay Street – MetroTech C  F 
N  R  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets C 
G  (IND Crosstown Line)
Lafayette Avenue
Clinton–Washington Avenues
Franklin Avenue S  (BMT Franklin Avenue Line)
Nostrand Avenue C  B44 Select Bus Service, LIRR Atlantic Branch at Nostrand Avenue
Kingston–Throop Avenues B15 bus to JFK Airport
Utica Avenue C 
Ralph Avenue
Rockaway Avenue
Broadway Junction C 
J  Z  (BMT Jamaica Line)
L  (BMT Canarsie Line)
Liberty Avenue
Van Siclen Avenue
Shepherd Avenue
Euclid Avenue C  Northern terminal for late night shuttles to Lefferts Boulevard
Grant Avenue
Queens
80th Street
88th Street
Rockaway Boulevard
Services to Lefferts Boulevard and The Rockaways split
104th Street
111th Street
Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard Q10 bus to JFK Airport
Rockaway Line
Aqueduct Racetrack Station serves northbound trains only
Aqueduct – North Conduit Avenue
Howard Beach – JFK Airport AirTrain JFK
Broad Channel S  (Rockaway Park Shuttle)
Services to Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park split
Far Rockaway Branch
Beach 67th Street
Beach 60th Street
Beach 44th Street
Beach 36th Street
Beach 25th Street
Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue LIRR Far Rockaway Branch at Far Rockaway
Rockaway Park Branch (rush hour service only)
Beach 90th Street S  (Rockaway Park Shuttle)
Beach 98th Street S  (Rockaway Park Shuttle)
Beach 105th Street S  (Rockaway Park Shuttle)
Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street S  (Rockaway Park Shuttle)

Notes

  1. ↑ The special rush hour trips are designated in the schedule and on trains.
  2. ↑ The separate shuttle service is identified on the late night map as , in the schedule as , and on trains as .

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Review of the A and C Lines" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). December 11, 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "mta.info - Line Colors". mta.info.
  3. ↑ "S Subway Timetable, Rockaway Park Shuttle, Effective December 6, 2015" (PDF). New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  4. ↑ "Late Night Subway Service" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  5. ↑ "Gay Midnight Crowd Rides First Trains in New Subway". New York Times. September 10, 1932. p. 1.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "NYCT Line by Line History". erictb.info.
  7. ↑ Echanove, Matias. "Bed-Stuy on the Move". Master thesis. Urban Planning Program. Columbia University. Urbanology.org. 2003.
  8. ↑ Williams, Keith. "Weaving the Broadway Junction tapestry". The Weekly Nabe. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "IND Faster Service Will Start Sunday". New York Times. October 20, 1949. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  10. ↑ PRR Chronology, 1956 PDF (45.9 KiB), December 2004 Edition
  11. ↑ "ROCKAWAY PARK". arrts-arrchives.com.
  12. ↑ "LONG ISLAND STATION HISTORY". trainsarefun.com.
  13. ↑ "Subway Schedules In Queens Changing Amid Some Protest". The New York Times. January 2, 1973. p. 46. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
  14. ↑ "Changes Set for Jan. 2 Praised". New York Times. November 25, 1972. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  15. ↑ "www.nycsubway.org". nycsubway.org.
  16. ↑ "Service Changes September 30, 1990" (PDF). subwaynut.com. New York City Transit Authority. September 30, 1990. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  17. ↑ "H Train". stationreporter.net. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015.
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ "Remembering a fire at Chambers St.". Second Ave. Sagas.
  20. ↑ "Rebuilding the Rockaways After Hurricane Sandy". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  21. ↑ Cuomo: MTA To Restore A Train Subway Service To The Rockaways May 30
  22. ↑ "MTA on Twitter". Twitter.
  23. ↑ Hurricane Sandy Recovery Service As of November 20
  24. ↑ "MTA News". mta.info.
  25. ↑ Cohen, Billie (January 2, 2008). "The A Train". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2015.

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