The W train is running again after a six-year absence, another step toward opening the long-awaited Second Avenue subway. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.

It's something subway riders hadn't heard in more than six years: "This is a Manhattan-bound W."

"It's nice to have a replacement for the Q, I guess," said one commuter.

The W rumbled back into service just before 7 a.m. Monday, six years after falling victim to MTA budget cuts.

The W train is now again running between Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens and the Whitehall station in lower Manhattan.

It's being brought back because the northern end of the Q line is being moved from Queens to the new Second Avenue line that's scheduled to open next month in Manhattan.

"I thought there was going to be no more W train, but then it came back," said one commuter. "I just woke up out of nowhere, like 5:30, I'm like, 'Yeah, let's go see the first W train.' I just came over here for no reason, before school."

And while this reshuffling is another step toward the opening of Second Avenue Subway service, riders in Astoria say they're glad they still to have multiple options for subway lines.

"As long as I can get from point A to point B, I'm going to be happy," said one commuter.

"Once they open Second Avenue Subway, I think it will be helpful in Manhattan. But as far as Astoria, I don't think it's going to be much of a change," said another.

Crew members on the first W train out of Queens said it was business as usual, too.

"I was here when it was here before, so no big deal," said train conductor Fernando Irizarry. "A train is a train."

The MTA says with the change, the number of N and W trains running in northern Queens during rush hour will not change in peak times, but it says riders in off-peak hours may see fewer trains. That's led to grumbling from residents who say this part of Queens needs more subway service at all hours.

"It's difficult because you can't gauge yourself. Plus, the train traffic, it's just one more thing," said one commuter. "This neighborhood, nothing has gotten this vertical just quickly anywhere else. It's insane."

As for the elevated line's former occupant, the Q, it will run from 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan to Coney Island, at least until the Second Avenue subway is ready to open.