# A (New York City Subway service)

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 blue since it is a part of the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan.
The A operates 24 hours a day between Inwood–207th Street in Inwood, Manhattan, and Howard Beach–JFK Airport in Howard Beach, Queens. During the day, additional service operates to and from Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard in South Ozone Park, Queens. Daytime service makes express stops in Manhattan and Brooklyn and all stops in Queens. Late night service operates only between 207th Street and JFK Airport, making all stops along the full route; during this time, a shuttle train (the Lefferts Boulevard Shuttle) operates between Euclid Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard.
In normal service, the A runs past JFK Airport to Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue at all times and to Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street during rush hours in the peak direction. The Far Rockaway branch provides the longest one-seat ride in the system—at 32.39 miles (52.13 km), between 207th Street and Far Rockaway—and a 2015 study indicated that it had a weekday ridership of 600,000.

## History
### Early 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, and the AA ran local between 168th Street and Chambers Street, known at the time as Hudson Terminal. During late-night hours (from 1:45 a.m. to 5:45 a.m.) and on Sundays, the A did not run and the AA made all stops along the line.$^{:15}$
The A was extended to Jay Street–Borough Hall when the Cranberry Street Tunnel to Brooklyn opened on February 1, 1933, and to Bergen Street, when the extension opened on March 20. On July 1, the A began running express at all times, stopping at 155th Street and 163rd Street during late nights.$^{:82}$ The A was extended to Church Avenue on October 7.
On April 9, 1936, the IND Fulton Street Line was opened to Rockaway Avenue. The 1936 extension 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.
On December 30, 1946, and November 28, 1948, the line was extended to Broadway–East New York (now Broadway Junction) and Euclid Avenue, respectively.$^{:82}$ 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.

### Extensions to Ozone Park and the Rockaways

On April 29, 1956, Grant Avenue was opened and the line was extended over the BMT Fulton Street Line to Lefferts Boulevard. On 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.
Two months later, on June 28, 1956, the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Beach Branch, having been rebuilt to subway specifications, began service 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 September 16, 1956, the A was extended to the Rockaways, replacing the E. At the time, alternate trains continued running to Lefferts Boulevard. 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 was now to Lefferts Boulevard.
On June 18, 1957, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced plans to have Rockaway-bound A trains skip Grant Avenue, Hudson Street, and Boyd Street during rush hours on a one-month pilot, to take effect July 1. The change was made to determine whether ten minutes could be reduced off of travel times to the Rockaways; the NYCTA only believed it would save three minutes. In the face of community opposition, the NYCTA announced that it would take more time to review the change, meaning that it ultimately did not take effect on July 1.
On January 16, 1958, with the opening of the new terminal Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue, rush hour A service was extended. On September 8, 1958, the A train replaced the E train in the Rockaways again, and A trains resumed alternating between Euclid Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard. "Round-robin" service from Euclid Avenue to both Rockaway terminals began during non-rush hours, while through A service ran to Lefferts Boulevard. On September 8, 1959, the A began to run local in Brooklyn during rush hours, making it local at all times in Brooklyn, as the E became express in Brooklyn during rush hours. On July 9, 1967, the A trains running to Euclid Avenue were extended to Far Rockaway middays, evenings, and weekends, replacing the HH shuttle on that branch.

### Simplifying service patterns

As part of systemwide changes in bus and subway service, major changes were made to A service in Brooklyn and Queens on January 2, 1973. The A train became the express service along Fulton Street and the E train became the local during rush hours. Express service would be provided for a longer period during rush hours as the span of E service to Brooklyn, which would cover local stops, was also increased. In addition, the A trips that terminated at Euclid Avenue during rush hours were extended to Far Rockaway, replacing E service. Service would now run to Far Rockaway between 5:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. A trains would alternate between Lefferts Boulevard and Far Rockaway. These changes were initially supposed to take effect on September 11, 1972.
On August 30, 1976, the CC became the Fulton Street Local during rush hours, replacing E service. On August 27, 1977, the A began making local stops in Manhattan during late nights, when the AA was not running.
On December 11, 1988, A trains began running local between 145th Street and 168th Street on weekends to replace the discontinued K (formerly AA) service, and express on the IND Fulton Street Line in Brooklyn during middays and rush hours, with the C providing local service during those times. On September 30, 1990, A trains began operating local between 145th Street and 168th Street during weekday evenings.
In January 1991, a reduction of service along the Central Park West corridor to remove excess capacity was proposed. Initially, A service would operate local between 168th Street and Euclid Avenue during weekday rush hours and middays, with weekday evening and weekend daytime service extended beyond 168th Street to operate to and from Inwood–207th Street, and daily late night service extended beyond Euclid Avenue to operate to and from Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue in Queens. Express service between 168th Street and 59th Street–Columbus Circle would be replaced by D and rerouted Q trains, the latter of which would serve 207th Street during weekday rush hours and middays; express service below 34th Street–Penn Station in Manhattan and in Brooklyn would have been replaced by an expanded H service. A new shuttle would serve Lefferts Boulevard during late nights. The service change was later amended to retain the A as an express service in place of the altered Q service pattern and would be re-designated as an orange A, as it would be rerouted via the Sixth Avenue Line and its southern terminal moved to Brighton Beach, operating weekday rush hours and middays only. This service change would have been implemented in October 1991, pending approval from the MTA board.
In 1991, at a series of meetings, the NYCTA presented proposed changes to A, C, and H service that would shorten the length of the C, simplify the service pattern during late nights to most efficiently serve the majority of riders, provide direct express service to Rockaway Park during rush hours in the peak direction, and provide shuttle connections during non-peak periods between Rockaway Park and through A train service. The service pattern devised was designed to improve operations by reducing route length and complexity, making service more attractive, simplifying confusing service patterns, and reducing transfers for passengers traveling during late nights. At the time, A service ran to Lefferts Boulevard and Far Rockaway during the day while the C ran to Rockaway Park during rush hours. During late nights, A service ran to Lefferts Boulevard, while service to both branches in the Rockaways was provided by round-robin H shuttle service to Euclid Avenue. As part of the changes proposed, round-robin shuttle service would be discontinued; late-night A service would run from Manhattan through to Far Rockaway; and service to Lefferts Boulevard and Rockaway Park would be provided by separate shuttle services with timed transfers to through A service. Rush hour local C service to Rockaway Park would be replaced by through A express service that ran every 20 minutes in the peak direction for a period of one hour and twenty minutes in rush hours to and from 59th Street–Columbus Circle. The initial proposal had these trips terminate at 34th Street, but this was changed to 59th Street following public comments. These five rush hour express trips were marketed as a "commuter rail style service", and special efforts were to be made to follow the arrival and departure times listed in the route's timetable, which was publicly distributed to riders. In addition, H service to Rockaway Park would be replaced by the Rockaway Park Shuttle, which would run between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park, and C service would be truncated to Euclid Avenue.
In April 1992, the MTA Board approved the proposed change to service in the Rockaways, which were expected to encourage ridership growth in the long term, and reduced NYCTA's annual operating budget by $20,000. The changes took effect on October 25, 1992, with modification: Overnight shuttle service to Lefferts Boulevard would terminate at Euclid Avenue, not Rockaway Boulevard. In addition, the Rockaway Park trips would end at Dyckman Street during the morning rush hour and begin at 59th Street–Columbus Circle during the evening rush hour. Later on, the Rockaway Park trips were extended from 59th Street to Dyckman Street and 207th Street.
On May 29, 1994, A trains began running express on weekends from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. between 168th Street and 145th Street, with C trains being extended from 145th Street to 168th Street to cover local stops. A corresponding change was made to weekday midday A service on April 30, 1995, though this change was discontinued on November 12, 1995. On March 1, 1998, A trains began running express between 168th Street and 145th Street during middays and early evenings, with local service provided by extended C service.
On May 1, 1999, the A became the express on the Fulton Street Line every day during daytime hours, and C service was extended from World Trade Center to Euclid Avenue during late weekday evenings and weekends to provide local service along the line. This service change was made due to construction taking place on the Williamsburg Bridge, which prohibited the J, M and Z from entering Manhattan; as a result, service on the A, as well as the C and L, were increased. This service change to the A was made permanent after the Williamsburg Bridge reopened to J, M and Z trains.

### 21st century

C service was suspended from January 29 to February 14, 2000 due to switch replacement work north of the World Trade Center station, preventing it from being used as a terminal for E trains. As a result, A trains made all stops between 168th and 145 during weekday daytime hours, and made all stops between 145th and 59th Streets during weekday evening hours.
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.
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. 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.
As a result of a two-phase program of flood mitigation work along the Hammels Wye, between April 9 and May 18, 2018, limited rush hour A service to/from Rockaway Park was suspended. The second phase, from July 1 to September 3, diverted all Far Rockaway-bound A trips to Rockaway Park, with Rockaway Park Shuttle trains being rerouted to the Far Rockaway branch through the southern leg of Hammels Wye.
From midday on March 29, 2020 to April 28, 2020, due to the suspension of C train service caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, A trains to Lefferts Boulevard ran local, while A trains to the Rockaways ran express. As part of a program to repair the South Channel Bridge, service between Howard Beach and the peninsula is suspended for 17 weeks which began on January 17, 2025, and the Rockaway branches are instead served by a rerouted Rockaway Park Shuttle.

## 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 | Times | Times | Times | Times |
| Line | From | To | Tracks | Lefferts Blvd. service | Lefferts Blvd. service | Rockaway Line service | Rockaway Line service | Rockaway Line service |
| Line | From | To | Tracks | all ex. nights | late nights | all ex. nights | late nights | rush peak |
| IND Eighth Avenue Line (full line) | Inwood–207th Street | 168th Street | all | | | | | |
| IND Eighth Avenue Line (full line) | 163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue | Canal Street | express | | | | | |
| IND Eighth Avenue Line (full line) | 163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue | Canal Street | local | | | | | |
| IND Eighth Avenue Line (full line) | Chambers Street | High Street | all | | | | | |
| IND Fulton Street Line (full line) | Jay Street–MetroTech | Shepherd Avenue | express | | | | | |
| IND Fulton Street Line (full line) | Jay Street–MetroTech | Shepherd Avenue | local | | | | | |
| IND Fulton Street Line (full line) | Euclid Avenue | Euclid Avenue | all | | | | | |
| IND Fulton Street Line (full line) | Grant Avenue | Rockaway Boulevard | local | | | | | |
| IND Fulton Street Line (full line) | 104th Street | Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard | local | | | | |
| IND Rockaway Line | Aqueduct Racetrack | Howard Beach–JFK Airport | local | | | | | |

### Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.
For clarity, the A's branches are shown separately in the following table. The leftmost column shows the Lefferts Boulevard service; the second column shows the Far Rockaway service; and the third column shows the Rockaway Park service. Due to construction on the Rockaway Line, the Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park services run only from Inwood–207th Street to Howard Beach–JFK Airport until May 2025.
Station service legend :
| | Stops 24 hours a day |
| | Stops every day during daytime hours only |
| | Stops every day during overnight hours only |
| | Stops during weekday daytime hours only |
| | Station closed |
| | Stops rush hours only (limited service) |
| | Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only |
| Time period details ||
| | Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act |
| ↑ | Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only |
| ↓ | Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only |
| | Elevator access to mezzanine only |
| Lef. | FR | RP | Stations | | Subway transfers | Connections/Other Notes |
| Manhattan |||||||
| Eighth Avenue Line |||||||
| | | ↑ | Inwood–207th Street | | | Bx12 Select Bus Service All northbound a.m. rush hour trains from Rockaway Park terminate at this station |
| | | | Dyckman Street | | | Some peak-direction rush hour trips to/from Brooklyn and Queens begin or end their runs at this station |
| | | | 190th Street | | | |
| | | | 181st Street | | | |
| | | | 175th Street | | | George Washington Bridge Bus Station |
| | | | 168th Street | | C 1 (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) | Some peak-direction rush hour trips to/from Brooklyn and Queens begin or end their runs at this station |
| | | | | | 163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue | | | |
| | | | | | 155th Street | | | Bx6 Select Bus Service |
| | | | 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 | | | M79 Select Bus Service |
| | | | | | 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 ​W (BMT Broadway Line) S (42nd Street Shuttle) at Times Square–42nd Street B ​D ​F <F> ​M (IND Sixth Avenue Line at 42nd Street–Bryant Park, daytime only) | 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 | M23 Select Bus Service |
| | | | 14th Street | | ​C ​E L (BMT Canarsie Line at Eighth Avenue) | M14A/D Select Bus Service |
| | | | West Fourth Street–Washington Square | | ​C ​E B ​D ​F <F> ​M (IND Sixth Avenue Line) | PATH at Ninth Street |
| | | | | | Spring Street | | E | |
| | | | Canal Street | | ​C ​E | |
| | | | Chambers Street | | C E (at World Trade Center) 2 ​3 (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at Park Place) N ​R ​W (BMT Broadway Line at Cortlandt Street) | 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) | PATH at World Trade Center |
| Brooklyn |||||||
| | | | High Street | | C | NYC Ferry: East River and South Brooklyn routes (at Old Fulton Street and Furman Street) |
| Fulton Street Line |||||||
| | | | Jay Street–MetroTech | | C F <F> ​ N R ​W (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 Int'l Airport |
| | | | Utica Avenue | | C | B46 Select Bus Service |
| | | | | | 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 the late night Lefferts Boulevard Shuttle, one evening trip from Far Rockaway, and three morning trips to Far Rockaway |
| | | | Grant Avenue | | | |
| Queens |||||||
| | | | 80th Street | | | |
| | | | 88th Street | | | |
| | | | Rockaway Boulevard | | | Q52/Q53 Select Bus Service |
| 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 |

## 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. It became the signature tune of Duke Ellington and often opened the shows of Ella Fitzgerald. The A train is mentioned by Azealia Banks in her song "212".