A (New York City Subway service)

Eighth Avenue Express

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 65

The A Eighth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. Its route bullet is colored blue on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map since it runs on the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan.

The A service operates at all times. The usual service pattern is from 207th Street in Inwood, Manhattan to Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens (this is the longest one-seat ride in the system, at over 31 miles[1] or 50 km) or Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard in Richmond Hill, Queens via Central Park West Express and Eighth Avenue Express in Manhattan, Fulton Street Express in Brooklyn and Rockaway Local in Queens.

Five rush hour trips (designated in the schedule) run from Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Park, Queens to Manhattan during the morning hours and five rush hour trips run to Beach 116th Street from Manhattan during the late afternoon hours. At all times, a shuttle train (S - Rockaway Park Shuttle) connects Rockaway Park to the mainline at Broad Channel.

During late nights, approximately 10:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. (Saturdays to 6 a.m., Sundays to 7 a.m.), the A service makes all stops in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, terminating at Far Rockaway only. During these times, A shuttle trains (Lefferts Boulevard Shuttle) run between Euclid Avenue in City Line, Brooklyn and Ozone Park - Lefferts Boulevard.

The A is the only service that has a transfer to each of the three shuttle services in the system (42nd Street in Manhattan, Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn (late nights), and Rockaway Park in Queens).

Contents

History

The A and AA were the first services on the IND Eighth Avenue Line when it opened on September 10, 1932. The A ran express between 207th Street and Chambers Street (adjacent to Hudson Terminal), and the AA was a local between 168th Street and Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center station). During late nights and Sundays, the A did not run and the AA made all stops along the line.

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.

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.[2]

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

On April 29, 1956, Grant Avenue was opened, and the line was extended over the BMT Fulton Street Line to Lefferts Boulevard. Two months later, on June 28, 1956, the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Line was rebuilt to subway specifications, and service began to Rockaway Park and Wavecrest (Beach 25th Street). At this time, rush hour express service on the Fulton Street Line with the E train began.

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. 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. Finally, in 1976, the C became the Fulton Street Local during rush hours.

In 1985, the Independent Subway System's practice of using double letters to indicate local service was discontinued. The AA service was renamed the K. In 1988, it was discontinued and replaced by the C.

Until 1990, the main service was to Lefferts Boulevard, while the Far Rockaway service did not run late nights; at this time, a transfer to a shuttle at Euclid Avenue was available. In 1990, this pattern was switched, with late-night A service running to Far Rockaway only. A shuttle now provides 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 on evenings and weekends after C service was moved from World Trade Center to Euclid Avenue during that time.

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.

Cultural references

In the Broadway musical In the Heights, during the title song, Usnavi tells the audience to "take the A Train" (to the melody of Strayhorn's Take the A Train) "even farther than Harlem to Northern Manhattan and maintain. Get off at 181st and take the escalator. I hope you're writing this down, I'm gonna test ya later."

Route

Service pattern

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

Line From To Tracks Times
Lefferts
Service
Rockaway
Service
all ex.
nights
late
nights
all ex.
nights
late
nights
rush
peak
IND Eighth Avenue Line Inwood – 207th Street 168th Street all          
163rd Street – Amsterdam Avenue Canal Street express  
local        
Chambers Street High Street – Brooklyn Bridge all      
IND Fulton Street 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 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 all times except late nights
Stops late nights only
Stops weekdays only
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
Stations Subway transfers Connections/Other Notes
Manhattan
Inwood – 207th Street Bx12 Select Bus Service
Dyckman Street
190th Street
181st Street
175th Street George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal
168th Street C 
1  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)
163rd Street – Amsterdam Avenue
155th Street
145th Street C 
B  D  (IND Concourse Line)
135th Street
125th Street B  C  D  M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport
116th Street
Cathedral Parkway – 110th Street
103rd Street
96th Street
86th Street
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  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)
Brooklyn
High Street – Brooklyn Bridge C 
Jay Street – MetroTech C 
F  (IND Culver Line)
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  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 
Grant Avenue
Queens
80th Street
88th Street
Rockaway Boulevard
Services to Lefferts Boulevard and The Rockaways split
Service to Lefferts Boulevard
104th Street
111th Street
Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard Q10 bus to JFK Airport
Rockaway Line services
Aqueduct Racetrack Station serves northbound trains only, and is open between 11:00 AM–7:00 PM on racing days at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Aqueduct – North Conduit Avenue
Howard Beach – JFK Airport AirTrain JFK
Broad Channel S  (Rockaway Park Shuttle)
Services to Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park split
Service to Far Rockaway
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
Service to Rockaway Park
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)

References

  1. ^ "MTA NYC Transit — Info — Subways". http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffsubway.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-08. 
  2. ^ Echanove, Matias. "Bed-Stuy on the Move". Master thesis. Urban Planning Program. Columbia University. Urbanology.org. 2003.

External links