Howard Beach – JFK Airport (IND Rockaway Line)

Howard Beach – JFK Airport
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Subway platforms at night
Station statistics
Address	159th Avenue & 103rd Street Queens, NY 11414
Borough	Queens
Locale	Howard Beach
Coordinates
Division	B (IND, formerly LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch)
Line	IND Rockaway Line
Services	A  (all times)
Transit connections	MTA Bus: Q11 AirTrain JFK
Structure	At-grade
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4 (2 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	April 1913 (1913-04) (LIRR station) December 17, 2003 (2003-12-17) (AirTrain JFK)
Rebuilt	June 28, 1956 (1956-06-28) (as a Subway station)
Accessible
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	1,041,816  8.1%
Rank	359
Station succession
Next north	Aqueduct – North Conduit Avenue: A
Next south	Broad Channel: A
Next north	Aqueduct Racetrack: A
Next south	Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue (via Rockaway): A  Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street (via Rockaway Park): A
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Location

Howard Beach – JFK Airport is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Coleman Square between 159th Avenue and 103rd Street in Howard Beach, Queens, it is served by the A train at all times.

History

Station entrance

The station originally opened in April 1913 as a Long Island Rail Road station, which replaced the former 1899-built Ramblersville station that was built 0.2 miles to the south. In 1923, the station was retrofitted with sheltered sheds on both sides of the tracks. On May 7–8, 1950 a fire that broke out between The Raunt and Broad Channel stations destroyed the bridge over Jamaica Bay, and the line was acquired by the New York City Transit Authority. On June 27, 1955, this station, along with all the rest of the Rockaway Beach Branch stations that were south of the now defunct Ozone Park station, was taken out of service due to an eight-month restructuring and upgrading of the train tracks, so that these tracks could accurately comply with the New York City Transit standards to rapidly transport the subway trains. On June 28, 1956, the Howard Beach station was reopened as the subway station that it is today and the previous Long Island Rail Road station of this stop was razed.

The JFK Express, which provided a link to John F. Kennedy International Airport to the east from Manhattan, terminated at this station from 1978 to 1990, which included free shuttle bus service to the airport. The shuttle bus service was the only one to link the airport with this station until the debut of AirTrain JFK on December 17, 2003.

Due to extensive damage to the IND Rockaway Line by Hurricane Sandy, this was the southern terminal for A trains that normally traveled to the Rockaways while the line was being repaired. Full service to the Rockaways was restored on May 30, 2013.

Station layout

2F AirTrain JFK level	Inbound	→ Howard Beach Branch toward Terminal 8 (Lefferts Boulevard) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Inbound	→ Howard Beach Branch toward Terminal 8 (Lefferts Boulevard) →
	Mezzanine	Fare control and overpass; transfer between subway and AirTrain (Elevators at Coleman Square and 159th Avenue)
G Ground level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound local	← toward Inwood – 207th Street (Aqueduct – North Conduit Avenue)
	Northbound express	← No regular service
	Southbound express	→ Trackbed
	Southbound local	→ toward Far Rockaway ( toward Rockaway Park PM rush hours) (Broad Channel) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Street level station house	Exit/ Entrance (Elevators at Coleman Square and 159th Avenue)

New York City Subway platforms

View of subway platforms

This grade-level station has two side platforms and four tracks with the two center express tracks not used in revenue service. The southbound express track has been severed and has permanently been removed from service, while the northbound express track is unused in regular service. South of the station, there are switches and crossovers between all four tracks before the two outer tracks merge with the center ones. The two-track line then crosses Jamaica Bay to Broad Channel, which is 3.5 miles to the south, making the crossing the longest section between two stations in the system.

Both platforms have concrete windscreens on either ends and steel canopies in the center, where the station's mezzanine is. It is built in a modern, glass enclosed building above the platforms and tracks with a large stainless steel sign on either side reading "HOWARD BEACH JFK." A set of staircases, elevators, and escalators from each platform go up to fare control above the platforms and tracks that has a token booth and turnstile bank. The east side of the building has the fare control for AirTrain JFK while on the west side, a twisting staircase and two elevators go down to the east side of 103rd Street by the T-intersection of 159th Avenue.

The Rockaway-bound platform has two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile leading to a short staircase that goes down to the intersection of 159th Road and 103rd Street. The Brooklyn-bound platform has a set of doors leading to the parking lot just north of the AirTrain JFK station.

AirTrain JFK platform

Building for AirTrain platforms

The AirTrain JFK portion of this station has two tracks and one enclosed island platform on the upper level of the terminal that leads to Parking Area C. The next stop to the southeast is Lefferts Boulevard. Since it is owned by the Port Authority, it uses a separate fare control from the subway.

External links

• nycsubway.org—IND Rockaway: Howard Beach
• Station Reporter — A Rockaway
• Howard Beach AirTrain station announcement
• The Subway Nut — Howard Beach – JFK Airport Pictures
• Entrance from Google Maps Street View
• AirTrain JFK platform from Google Maps Street View

	Former services
Preceding station		LIRR		Following station
Aqueduct toward Grand Street		Rockaway Beach Branch		Hamilton Beach toward Rockaway Park