Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
A train service returns to the Rockaways this month
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published May 7, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Marc A. Hermann/MTA
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published May 7, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The A train is returning to the Rockaways — just in time for beach season — following a four-month shutdown of subway service to the peninsula.
The MTA said regular service will resume on May 19 for the more than 9,000 daily commuters going to and from the Rockaways.
A train service to the Rockaways will resume May 19 following a four-month suspension of service.
Ramsey Khalifeh
The shutdown, which began in January, allowed the MTA to perform structural repairs to the Broad Channel Bridge and to demolish and replace the century-old Hammels Wye viaduct crossing Jamaica Bay. The transit agency also installed new flood barriers and pumps along the line in areas prone to flooding.
The work addressed damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
For months, Rockaway riders took shuttle buses and discounted LIRR rides while transit workers made the repairs. The shutdown paused A train service between the Howard Beach-JFK Airport and the last stops of the line, either Rockaway Park-Beach 116th Street or Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue.
MTA workers repairing bridges and viaducts serving the Rockaways in February.
Trent Reeves/MTA
During the first weeks of the shutdown, several riders told Gothamist that the change to their commutes was difficult. Many residents in the peninsula are already “super commuters,” traveling more than an hour to get to work each way daily.
Joseph Ebisan, who lives in the Bronx and commutes to Far Rockaway for work, said he’s relieved to hear that service is returning.
“The A train is super helpful, super quick, super fast, super safe too,” Ebisan, 43, said.
He said he was often late to work during the shutdown.
Many riders take the train to the beach during the summer. According to city parks data, 150,000 people visited Rockaway Beach on a June weekday last year.
Tagged
queens
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .