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LOWER MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) — Thousands of passengers who ride the A train in Far Rockaway, Queens will be impacted next year, when the subway line shuts down in the Rockaways for five months, starting in January.
For many riders who live in that part of New York City, that’s the only available subway.
“How is this going to work, coming home, picking up my son?” said A train commuter Jonathan Cox.
Cox had no idea about the looming service change, and he’s not happy.
The A train is a lifeline for people who live, work and go to school in the Rockaways. But beginning in January, a section of it will be shut down for crucial repairs from Jan. 17 to May 19.
That includes Howard Beach/JFK Airport to either Far Rockaway/Mott Avenue or Rockaway Park/Beach 116th Street.
“If this was like a little small situation, it’d be fine, but at the end of the day, this is a heavy line that everyone uses,” Cox said.
The A train was trashed in Superstorm Sandy 14 years ago. It was cleaned up and service was restored, but it never fully recovered and remains vulnerable to future storms. The repairs and upgrades will be similar to work performed on the G train this past summer.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber insisted that it’s unavoidable.
“This project is literally, you know, taking that narrow causeway from Broad Channel back to the mainland of Queens and redoing the structure of that little narrow causeway and the track,” he said.
MTA officials say shuttle buses will run 24/7 and enhanced LIRR service is under consideration.
Some riders say that short-term pain means long-term gain.
“Dealing with train tracks and stuff like that, you know, is important,” said A train commuter Nick Corley. “They might need that time to do that. Trying to do it in between train traffic and stuff like that will make it take longer.”
For four months, the longest subway line in New York will be a little shorter, and so will the patience of an untold numbers of A train riders.
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