A (New York City Subway service)

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
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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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 A ran express between 207th Street and Chambers Street, adjacent to the Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center station), and the AA was a local between 168th Street and 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 29, 1949, express service in Brooklyn to Broadway – East New York (now Broadway Junction) began with the A running express during rush hours, with the E extended to provide local service.^[6]

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,^[9] and service began to Rockaway Park^[10] and Wavecrest (Beach 25th Street).^[11] 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.^[12][13] Finally, in 1976, the C became the Fulton Street Local during rush hours.^[14]

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 on evenings and weekends after C service was moved from World Trade Center to Euclid Avenue during that time.^[15]

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.^[16][17]

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.^[18][19] 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.^[20][21][22]

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.^[23] 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:

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

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to A (New York City Subway service).

• MTA NYC Transit – A Eighth Avenue Express
• "A Subway Timetable, Effective June 14, 2015" (PDF). New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2015-09-13. 
• MTA NYC Transit – A C Line Review
  • Main Document

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