Rockaways A Train Service Resumes At Noon

[hrmjustin]

Subway trains in the Rockaways are getting back on track today, but not in time for the morning commute. The MTA says the A train and the Rockaway Shuttle will resume service on the peninsula at noon.The agency has been doing test runs of empty trains to make sure everything is working properly.

A and shuttle service to the Rockaways was knocked out for seven months by Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed subway tracks and signals. Crews had to rebuild the four-mile subway link between the peninsula and the rest of the city, and renovate two flooded stations.

"We had to basically rebuild an entire railroad from where the A line leaves the mainland all through the Rockaways here. There were a couple of breeches where storm water from Sandy, it surged in. It didn't just go over the tracks, it went under the tracks. It washed out all the gravel and earth that support them. And we had a couple of sections where track was just hanging in mid air," said MTA Spokesman Adam Lisberg.

"At first it was very inconvenient, but you got used to the other train. And then you take a cab here and there when you have to. You do what you have to do. But yeah, we missed it a lot," said one Rockaways resident. "It helps a lot. The commute between the bus and the A train it's a big difference. It's definitely gonna help commuters a lot," said another Rockaways resident. The MTA has also built a two mile steel wall on Jamaica Bay to protect the A line from future storms.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/182917/rockaways-a-train-service-resumes-at-noon