The A Train is the longest line of the New York City Subway. From end to end the ride takes over two hours, and that's going express for much of the way! It features a
causeway over
Jamaica Bay that is reminiscent of
rural train rides.
The route that is currently the A was mostly built as part of the Independent Subway System (IND) by the city in the late 20s and early 30s. This includes the portion from Washington Heights in Manhattan and down Central Park West, the Eighth Avenue line, the tunnel under the East River to Brooklyn and the Fulton Avenue line. The farthest outlying tunnel portions under Fulton Avenue were the last section of the IND built before the war, and they are very Art Deco.
A short elevated portion beyond the Fulton Avenue subway was part of the old Fulton Avenue elevated structure, of the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit (BMT) system. The portion that runs near JFK airport and over the causeway was built by the Transit Authority in the 50s, and was some of the first new construction after unification. The Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park branches were actually some disused Long Island Railway trackage that was overhauled for incorporation into the line. Thus the route of the A Train contains trackage developed by three different transit providors.
The A Train currently runs a mixture of R44-46 rolling stock, from the early 70s and characterized by nice interiors and an external LED display, and older R32 stock. The A line was the former home of the experimental R110B train, which now runs on the C