NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will offer free shuttle buses, a shuttle train service, and discounted Long Island Rail Road fares during an upcoming closure of the subway A train to the Rockaways under a plan announced this week.
The MTA announced earlier this month that A trains would not run between Howard Beach-JFK Airport and Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue or Rockaway Park-Beach Avenue between Jan. 17 and May 19, 2025, to allow repairs to infrastructure damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and to improve the route’s storm resiliency. The full closure is necessary to rebuild the Hammels Wye viaduct, where trains enter the peninsula and head east to Far Rockaway or West to Rockaway Park.
Initial plans called for a fare-free subway shuttle to run between Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park starting Jan. 20 and serving the 10 stations on the Rockaway Peninsula, with shuttle buses connecting to the shuttle train from Howard Beach. Additional information on the shuttle is available here.
But a plan announced Nov. 14 by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also includes steeply discounted fares — $2.75 in each direction — from the Long Island Rail Road Far Rockaway station. That is only about a 6-minute walk from the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue subway station. There are also other bus options, including express buses to Manhattan.
“This service plan helps us ensure that we can take care of our residents while transforming their transit experience,” Hochul said in a press release, “and ensuring that we provide fair and reliable transportation alternatives as we carry out the resiliency plan.”
MTA CEO Janno Lieber said, “It’s time to make the A train more reliable and resilient for Rockaway riders, and this plan is the fastest and most efficient way to do it.”
