H train comes to the Rockaways

Photo: MTA New York City Transit / Leonard Wiggins – On November 6, 2012, employees from MTA New York City Transit loaded subway cars onto flatbed trucks for transportation to the Rockaway Peninsula. The cars will be used to create shuttle trains that will operate on the A Line in the Rockaways until full service can be restored.

Remember when we told you that the MTA had brought a bunch of subway cars via flatbed truck to the Rockaways, so that they could have train service within the Rockaway peninsula after Hurricane Sandy? Well, it has a name – the H train. The NY Post reports that the train is “a throwback of the old Rockaway shuttle.” It’s free and started running at 4am this morning.

Here’s more detail:

The trains will operate every 15 minutes between the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station and the Beach 90-Holland station, making all intermediate stops. Stations west of Beach 90-Holland suffered extensive damage to signal systems and cannot accommodate passenger trains.

The free shuttle bus leaves from the Far Rockaway stop, and takes passengers to the Howard Beach A train station, so they can connect to the rest of the city.

The H train closes each night at 1am for repairs and starts back up at the aforementioned 4am.

MTA launches new rail service for stranded Far Rockaway residents [NY Post]
Subway trains will be running within the Rockaways, just not out of them [QNYC]
The Broad Channel subway station severely damaged, will be closed for months, thanks to Hurricane Sandy [QNYC]