The A Eighth Avenue Express[3] is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway.

Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored blue since it is a part of the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan.

[a][5] In normal service, the A runs past JFK Airport to Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue at all times and to Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street during rush hours in the peak direction.

The Far Rockaway branch provides the longest one-seat ride in the system—at 32.39 miles (52.13 km), between 207th Street and Far Rockaway—and a 2015 study indicated that it had a weekday ridership of 600,000.

[13] The 1936 extension played an integral part in the establishment of Bedford-Stuyvesant as Brooklyn's central African American community.

[21][22] At this time, rush hour express service on the Fulton Street Line with the E train began.

On September 16, 1956, the A was extended to the Rockaways, replacing the E. At the time, alternate trains continued running to Lefferts Boulevard.

[12] On January 27, 1957, non-rush hour through service to the Rockaways was discontinued and was replaced by a shuttle running between Euclid Avenue and Wavecrest (now Beach 25th Street).

On June 18, 1957, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced plans to have Rockaway-bound A trains skip Grant Avenue, Hudson Street, and Boyd Street during rush hours on a one-month pilot, to take effect July 1.

On July 9, 1967, the A trains running to Euclid Avenue were extended to Far Rockaway middays, evenings, and weekends, replacing the HH shuttle on that branch.

[31] In addition, the A trips that terminated at Euclid Avenue during rush hours were extended to Far Rockaway, replacing E service.

[34] On August 27, 1977, the A began making local stops in Manhattan during late nights, when the AA was not running.

[37] In January 1991, a reduction of service along the Central Park West corridor to remove excess capacity was proposed.

These five rush hour express trips were marketed as a "commuter rail style service", and special efforts were to be made to follow the arrival and departure times listed in the route's timetable, which was publicly distributed to riders.

[39] In April 1992, the MTA Board approved the proposed change to service in the Rockaways, which were expected to encourage ridership growth in the long term, and reduced NYCTA's annual operating budget by $20,000.

[44][45] A service was affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, due to extreme damage to the IND Rockaway Line.

[48][49][50] As a result of a two-phase program of flood mitigation work along the Hammels Wye, between April 9 and May 18, 2018, limited rush hour A service to/from Rockaway Park was suspended.