A train service returns to the Rockaways this month

The A train is returning to the Rockaways — just in time for beach season — following a four-month shutdown of subway service to the peninsula.

The MTA said regular service will resume on May 19 for the more than 9,000 daily commuters going to and from the Rockaways.

The shutdown, which began in January, allowed the MTA to perform structural repairs to the Broad Channel Bridge and to demolish and replace the century-old Hammels Wye viaduct crossing Jamaica Bay. The transit agency also installed new flood barriers and pumps along the line in areas prone to flooding.

The work addressed damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

For months, Rockaway riders took shuttle buses and discounted LIRR rides while transit workers made the repairs. The shutdown paused A train service between the Howard Beach-JFK Airport and the last stops of the line, either Rockaway Park-Beach 116th Street or Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue.

During the first weeks of the shutdown, several riders told Gothamist that the change to their commutes was difficult. Many residents in the peninsula are already “super commuters,” traveling more than an hour to get to work each way daily.

Joseph Ebisan, who lives in the Bronx and commutes to Far Rockaway for work, said he’s relieved to hear that service is returning.

“The A train is super helpful, super quick, super fast, super safe too,” Ebisan, 43, said.

He said he was often late to work during the shutdown.

Many riders take the train to the beach during the summer. According to city parks data, 150,000 people visited Rockaway Beach on a June weekday last year.