MTA wants A train to serve both ends of Rockaways

Double ended "A"?: NY Post

An MTA board member wants A trains to serve both the east and west ends of the Rockaways at all times, saying that would be a boon to beachgoers and residents.

A trains now serve only the east end, except for a few during rush hours, forcing passengers to change to a shuttle at Broad Channel.

Andrew Albert wants half the A trains to go to the east end; the others to the west.

Service to Lefferts Boulevard would be provided by extending the C line from Euclid Avenue.
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I don't see why that shouldn't happen. IIRC the E used to go to Rockaway Park during rush hrs. It would be nice for RP riders not to have to wait outside for a connection.

IIRC, something of the sort was done before.

Typical NY Post saying that the MTA wants it when it is just a member of the MTA board who has the idea and has to convince the other members of the board to go along.

The idea conjures up memories of the old late night 'round-robin' service on the A. Southbound trains would go to Rockaway Park-Beach 116th first, then the T/O would change ends and the train would go to Mott Av using the single connecting track east of Beach 90th St. Northbound trains from Mott Av would head back towards Broad Channel. Anyone from the eastern leg stations who wanted to go to western leg stations during this time would have to go to Broad Channel and get a southbound A (or take whatever local bus service that was running).

It was called the "H".

And I think the "C" is supposed to be completely underground.

"Anyone from the eastern leg stations who wanted to go to western leg stations during this time would have to go to Broad Channel and get a southbound A ."

That's what they have to do now.

STrRedWolf wrote:It was called the "H".

And I think the "C" is supposed to be completely underground.

It doesn't have to be, that's just the current service pattern. Nothing is preventing them from running it above ground.

Passenger wrote:IIRC, something of the sort was done before.

IINM, the A train went to both places when I lived in Manhattan in the 60's.

Is there any reason the C has to be completely underground? I think the C, E, and R are the only non shuttle lines that are completely underground. When the T-Line is added, that should be completely underground as well.

The "round robin" service idea sounds like it could work. Passengers would get a one seat ride to Manhattan in one direction from each side. Looks like the south end would be a one seat ride from Manhattan, and the north side would be a one seat ride to Manhattan. They could also get rid of the shuttle, and hopefully free up some R46's that would facilitate the retirement of more R32's.

Wouldn't it be better to extend the C to the A last stop for all hours service to Ozone park, and split As with a shuttle of R46s running up and down the island?

trainbrain wrote:Is there any reason the C has to be completely underground? I think the C, E, and R are the only non shuttle lines that are completely underground. When the T-Line is added, that should be completely underground as well.

The "round robin" service idea sounds like it could work. Passengers would get a one seat ride to Manhattan in one direction from each side. Looks like the south end would be a one seat ride from Manhattan, and the north side would be a one seat ride to Manhattan. They could also get rid of the shuttle, and hopefully free up some R46's that would facilitate the retirement of more R32's.

If I remember the reporting off of WNYC's Transportation Nation, the cars on the C are old enough that keeping them underground as much as possible extends their life and also keeps them cooler in summer months. They may be 100% R32s.

You have that backwards...they were transferring the 32s to the J/Z trains during the summer because running entirely underground was overtaxing the AC on the cars. There was a day over the summer where C train service was FUBAR because every train running with 32s had hot cars and were being pulled from service.

The C is also far from 100% R32 these days...there's a good portion of R160s making up the equipment.

I remember when the H used to run round robin at night. What a pain that was. It added a bunch more time to the trip.

Running the C to Rockaway would make a lot more sense.

Run the C to Ozone Park, and have the A alternate between Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park.