Lefferts Blvd Shuttle
The Lefferts Blvd Shuttle is what the least used subway line. The A train is the only NYC subway service to operate regular service providing the only service to Lefferts Blvd and Far Rockaway via two branches. During regular service hours this generally means service to Lefferts Blvd versus the Rockaways is every 15 to 20 minutes, depending upon the time of day with service on the core of the A train generally every 10 minutes or better. During evening hours service can be as bad as every 30 minutes. For example, leaving Far Rockaway between 10:00pm and Midnight there are just 4 trains scheduled with a 35 minute gap in service. Overnight, when A trains operate local every 20 minutes to not bifurcate the service and make frequency even worse (it would be every 40 minutes on each of the branches), the Lefferts Blvd Shuttle Train operates.
These shuttle trains operate every 20 minutes between Lefferts Blvd and Euclid Avenue. Trains don’t terminate at Rockaway Blvd (like the weekend extended Rockaway Park Shuttle trains) because it is more trouble than it’s worth (trains would have to deadhead through 88 Street to reach the middle track to relay at 80 Street) so Euclid Avenue is the terminus and connection point. Trains generally start running from Lefferts Blvd between Midnight and 5:00am with return service from Euclid Avenue to Lefferts Blvd beginning about an hour later at 1:00am and ending about an hour later at 6:00am. The trip is scheduled to take 11 minutes, which should mean 22 minutes round-trip allowing for just two trainsets to operate (with 18 minutes of layover in each direction), but the Lefferts Blvd shuttle is even less efficient than that with 3 trainsets in use (with trains operating in passenger service for just 22 minutes outside of an hour.
The name and bullet for this route isn’t consistent. The one time I rode the shuttle back in 2014 — I had a subway car to myself for the entire ride — the shuttle train used a Yellow S bullet. Today with new roll signs installed in most R46s (I think to accommodate them now operating on the W), trains seem to be using the Blue S bullet (this was on subway maps from 1993 until about 2004, although trains used normal grey Ss since it wasn’t on the roll signs). The automated announcements for when R179s are used simply call it an A train to Lefferts Blvd and an A train to Euclid Avenue. The status of the train as a shuttle or S bullet to operate train as a shuttle hasn’t been programmed (I don’t know if the automated announcements at 2:00am on regular A trains are smart enough to say transfer to the Shuttle to Lefferts Blvd or not at Euclid Avenue). The late night subway map shows it as an A in the same grey as used by normal shuttle trains.
Trains operate using One-Person Train-Operation which per union contracts means just 4 cars (5 cars when R179s are used), with trains separated in the late evening and then combined in the early morning directly on the platform at Lefferts Blvd. This is the only place where passengers can watch train crews directly coupling or uncoupling trainsets, trains only stop on a portion of the platform at Lefferts Blvd, with the other half of the trainset sitting in the station overnight for storage (trains are also stored during late nights on the middle track between Lefferts Blvd and Rockaway Blvd).
Historically the Lefferts Blvd Shuttle is a very new subway line, it was created in 1993 as part of the efforts to streamline service to the Rockaways, the S Rockaway Park Shuttle was created the same day. Until this time A trains operated between Lefferts Blvd and 207 Street at all times. With H Rockaway trains providing round-robin service from Euclid Avenue, trains ran from Euclid Avenue to Rockaway Park, reversed-direction, up through Hammels Wye to Far Rockaway, reversed-direction, and back to Euclid Avenue. The creation of the Lefferts Blvd Shuttle was a way to streamline late night operations and provide direct service to Manhattan for the most stations.
