The Rockaway Park Shuttle
is a
New York City Subway shuttle train that operates in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
. It connects with the train at
Broad Channel station
The Broad Channel station is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway, located in the neighborhood of the same name at Noel and West Roads in the borough of Queens. It is served by the A train and the Rockaway Park Shu ...
and is the latest iteration of the Rockaway Shuttle services that have been running on the
Rockaway peninsula since 1956. This shuttle train provides service to the western part of the peninsula, with a terminus at
Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street. The fully above-ground route operates on trackage that was originally part of the
Long Island Rail Road's
Far Rockaway Branch
The Far Rockaway Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station. From Valley Stream, ...
until the mid-1950s. During summer weekends, to eliminate an additional transfer and thus ease beach access, the Rockaway Park Shuttle is typically extended four stations north to
Rockaway Boulevard
Rockaway Boulevard is a major road in the New York City borough of Queens. Unlike the similarly named Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Rockaway Freeway, it serves mainland Queens and does not enter the Rockaways.
Route description
It begins as an u ...
, the southernmost station shared by Rockaway-bound and
Lefferts Boulevard
Lefferts Boulevard is a major north–south thoroughfare in Queens, New York City, running through the communities of Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park. Its northern end is at Kew Gardens Road, in Kew Gardens, and its southern end i ...
-bound A trains.
Like the other two shuttles,
42nd Street in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
Franklin Avenue
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral div ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, it is marked with the letter "S" and its route bullet is colored on route signs, station signs, rolling stock, and the official subway map. The internal designator for this service is H, though the MTA does not show this on any maps, train rollsigns, or schedules; the designation S
R is also sometimes used on public documents.
Prior to 1993, the Rockaway Park Shuttle used multiple different designations, including the E, CC, and H, which had an emblem colored . The H formerly ran north to
Euclid Avenue in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
via the
IND Fulton Street Line, as well as to
Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue to the east. In 2012–13, after
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
destroyed the IND Rockaway Line's connection to the rest of the system, the H shuttle provided service from Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue to
Beach 90th Street.
Service history
![Subway Goes To Rockaway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Subway_Goes_To_Rockaway.gif)
The Rockaway Shuttle started operating on June 28, 1956. During its early years, it essentially provided non-rush hour and weekend service between
Euclid Avenue and either
Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue or
Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street. At first, the route did not have an official assigned letter code on maps, although sometimes trains displayed either the or route on their
rollsign
A destination sign (North American English) or destination indicator/destination blind (British English) is a sign mounted on the front, side or rear of a public transport vehicle, such as a bus, tram/streetcar or light rail vehicle, that di ...
boxes.
Beginning on February 1, 1962, the Rockaway Shuttle was officially lettered on maps and trains as HH (which had last been used for the
Court Street Shuttle
HH was the last of the letters assigned to original routes of the Independent Subway System of the New York City Subway in the 1930s. It was designated as the dedicated service letter of the IND Fulton Street Line in Brooklyn.
The letter was ...
, discontinued 16 years earlier) to make it easier to distinguish E trains from shuttle trains. From November 26, 1967, to September 10, 1972, it was colored red, with daytime non-rush hour and weekend service usually available between Rockaway Park and Euclid Avenue or
Broad Channel
Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock (known colloquially as "Broad Channel Island"), the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay.
Th ...
, plus some weekday mid-afternoon service provided between Far Rockaway and Euclid Avenue.
During the late night-early morning hours, service operating to and from
Euclid Avenue on the
IND Fulton Street Line in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
was extended between roughly midnight and 6:00 a.m., which were the hours when the did not run to and from
Far Rockaway
Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line ...
. At those times, the HH would operate from Euclid Avenue to Rockaway Park, then to Far Rockaway via
Hammels Wye
The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. The t ...
, and finally back to Euclid Avenue, thus earning this ''
night owl'' service the unofficial nickname of ''Rockaway Round-Robin''.
Between September 11, 1972, and August 29, 1976, the shuttle's identifier was known as the (colored aqua blue), although during rush hours this train was extended all the way to
Jamaica–179th Street on the
IND Queens Boulevard Line in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
. Afterward, the designation (colored green) was used for the shuttle, running to Broad Channel, although during rush hours this train was extended all the way to
Bedford Park Boulevard on the
IND Concourse Line
The Concourse Line is an IND rapid transit line of the New York City Subway system. It runs from 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx, primarily under the Grand Concourse, to 145th Street in Harlem, Manhattan. It is the only B Division line, and a ...
in the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. In 1979, the MTA released a new
coloring scheme for subway routes based on trunk line; CC service was assigned the color blue, because in Manhattan it used the
IND Eighth Avenue Line
The IND Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND), and the ''Eighth Avenu ...
.
On May 6, 1985, the shuttle's identifier was changed to H (still colored blue) instead of reverting to HH, as the New York City subway system had abolished two-letter designations by then.
Prior to 1993, late night service went to
Lefferts Boulevard
Lefferts Boulevard is a major north–south thoroughfare in Queens, New York City, running through the communities of Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park. Its northern end is at Kew Gardens Road, in Kew Gardens, and its southern end i ...
with no service to Far Rockaway. During this time again, the Rockaway Shuttle ran from Rockaway Park to Far Rockaway, to Euclid Avenue, and finally, back down to Rockaway Park. In 1993, service was changed. All late night service traveled to Far Rockaway and service to Lefferts Boulevard was provided by a shuttle to Euclid Avenue. The Rockaway Park Shuttle, designated S, now ran between Rockaway Park and Broad Channel at all times. Also in 1993, special diamond service began running from Rockaway Park to Manhattan during the morning rush, and from Manhattan to Rockaway Park during the evening rush.
Formerly, some maps and trains had shown the current S service in blue. Since May 2004, the official system map shows the Rockaway Park Shuttle as carrying a grey bullet. Recent prints, however, depicted the service itself in blue, but has been changed back to grey, as of January 2013. In order to distinguish it from the other shuttles, NYCT Rapid Transit operations still refers to it internally as the H.
The Rockaway Park Shuttle was suspended following the aftermath of
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
, due to track being washed out between Broad Channel and
Howard Beach
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...
. On November 20, 2012, a free shuttle designated as H replaced the Rockaway portion of the A service between
Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue and
Beach 90th Street via the Hammels Wye. Additionally, the remainder of the Rockaway Line from Beach 90th Street to
Rockaway Park was damaged and awaited repair. With the emergency implementation of this service, the H rollsign designation returned to public usage for the first time since 1993.
Despite the service's free status, few riders used the signed H service,
partly due to the extremely low ridership at Rockaway stations to begin with; this ridership had been lowered further since Hurricane Sandy. In addition, the service did not run during late nights, and the service was only connected to the rest of the subway via a shuttle bus to Howard Beach.
On May 30, 2013, full service to the Rockaways was restored, and the free H service was discontinued.
In late May 2016, the MTA announced that the Rockaway Park Shuttle would be extended from Broad Channel to
Rockaway Boulevard
Rockaway Boulevard is a major road in the New York City borough of Queens. Unlike the similarly named Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Rockaway Freeway, it serves mainland Queens and does not enter the Rockaways.
Route description
It begins as an u ...
on weekends from mid-June until
Labor Day 2016. This allowed passengers on both
Lefferts Boulevard
Lefferts Boulevard is a major north–south thoroughfare in Queens, New York City, running through the communities of Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park. Its northern end is at Kew Gardens Road, in Kew Gardens, and its southern end i ...
and Far Rockaway-bound trains to transfer to the shuttle, and for shuttle passengers to transfer to more frequent A train service at Rockaway Boulevard. The trains were also lengthened to eight cars instead of the usual four. This summer weekend extension was implemented again starting in 2017 between Memorial and Labor Days. However, the extension for 2018 ended on July 1 and was replaced by rerouted A trains to Rockaway Park due to construction on Hammels Wye. In 2019, the summer extension was reinstated for the whole season, while in 2020, the summer extension was reinstated in July. Since then, the seasonal extension has occurred on an annual basis.
From April 9 to May 18, 2018, and again from July 2 to September 3, 2018, the shuttle ran between Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street and Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue due to a planned two-phase program of flood mitigation work along the Hammels Wye.
Stations
For a more detailed station listing, see
IND Rockaway Line
The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. The ...
.
References
External links
MTA NYC Transit – Rockaway Park Shuttle*
*
* Archived a
Ghostarchiveand th
Wayback Machine
{{DEFAULTSORT:S Rockaway Park
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Rockaway Park Shuttle