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Breaking: MTA Gives Rockaway Special H Subway Line
By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 19, 2012
Modified Nov 19, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 19, 2012
Modified Nov 19, 2012
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Everyone with money down betting the next train line to come to the MTA would be the T (aka the Second Avenue Subway) better pay up: Governor Cuomo and the MTA today announced that, starting tomorrow at 4 a.m., the newest subway in the system will be the returning H train, which will try and make it easier for those in the Rockaways to access the rest of the city.
According to the Cuomo's office, "The newly-named H train will operate every 15 minutes between the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station and the Beach 90-Holland station, making all intermediate stops using a connection known as the Hammels Wye that is not normally used for service." Sadly, the stations west of Beach 90 suffered extensives damage and "cannot yet accommodate passenger service." Also, note that the train will not run between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. so track work can be done.
After taking the free H train to the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station, riders can use then take a free shuttle bus to the Howard Beach station for the A train. It isn't ideal, but serious damage was done to the MTA system out there. "The A train tracks from Howard Beach to the Rockaways were almost completely destroyed by the storm, and replacing them is a tremendous undertaking," Cuomo said today. "While that work continues, this new shuttle service will help improve travel for people in the Rockaways who are still recovering from Sandy’s effects."
Now for the cool subway geek stuff: To run the "new" H line the MTA loaded 20 R-32 subway cars onto flatbed trucks and drove them out to Beach 116th! Further, the new line will be running "using a connection known as the Hammels Wye that is not normally used for service." As for the color of the line? It'll be blue—same as it ever was.
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