[4] The 7 operates 24 hours a day between Main Street in Flushing, Queens and 34th Street–Hudson Yards in Chelsea, Manhattan, making all stops along the full route.

Additional service operates along the full route and makes express stops in Queens between Mets–Willets Point and Queensboro Plaza during rush hours in the peak direction instead of making all stops; these trains labeled as <7> Express trains.

Super express service operates after special events at Citi Field or the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the southbound direction only.

Since 1927, the 7 has held largely the same route, except for a one-stop western extension from Times Square to Hudson Yards on September 13, 2015.

[22] The service on the Flushing Line east of Queensboro Plaza was shared by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) from 1912 to 1949; BMT trains were designated 9, while IRT services were designated 7 on maps only.

Express service to Manhattan operated in the morning rush between 6:30 and 10:43 a.m. Express service to Main Street began from Times Square for the IRT at 10:50 a.m. and the BMT from Queensboro Plaza at 11:09 a.m., continuing until 8 p.m.[27] On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the Flushing Line became the responsibility of the IRT.

[28] After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths, and the BMT Astoria Line platforms extended to 10 BMT car lengths.

[29][30] On March 12, 1953, two 9-car super express trains began operating from Flushing–Main Street to Times Square in the morning rush hour.

This was necessitated because the subway was allowed to deteriorate during the 1970s and 1980s to the point that there were widespread "Code Red" defects on the Flushing Line, and there were some pillars holding elevated structures that were so shaky that trains would not run if the wind exceeded 65 mph (105 km/h).

The NYCTA proposed implementing express service in July 1989 to coincide with changes in regular A Division schedules.

[46] Keeping local-only service was dismissed as it would not have saved times for the large number of riders boarding east of Junction Boulevard heading to Manhattan, because it did not provide for the most efficient use of subway cars, and because it did not provide an attractive alternative to the overcrowded Queens Boulevard Line.

[45] In September 1989, 200 riders and Republican Mayoral candidate Rudolph Giuliani rallied at the 61st Street station to protest the elimination of express service.

[47] Express service resumed stopping at Woodside on a six-week test basis on February 10, 1992, after pressure from community opposition.

[54][55] When the viaduct reconstruction finished on March 31, 1997, ahead of schedule, full <7> express service was reinstated.

[57] The 7 Subway Extension, which travels west and south to 34th Street and 11th Avenue, near the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Hudson Yards, was delayed five times.

[60][61] In 2010, New York City officials announced they were considering a further extension of the service across the Hudson River to the Secaucus Junction train station in New Jersey.

[62] Though the project was supported by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey governor Chris Christie,[63] MTA chairman Joseph Lhota announced in 2013 that the New Jersey extension would not be pursued, in favor of the Gateway Tunnel project, which entails a new tunnel to Manhattan for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains.

[64] As part of a joint effort between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the MTA, and NJ Transit, this extension was considered again in February 2018.

[68] At the former southern terminal, Times Square, service on the 7 was limited to 27 trains per hour as a result of the bumper blocks there.

[70] From June 26, 2023, through January 2025, <7> express trains are making all stops between Queensboro Plaza and 74th Street–Broadway due to renovations along the Flushing Line.

They had special gear ratios to climb the steep grades (4.5%) in the Steinway Tunnel, something standard Interborough equipment could not do.

[77] On November 3, 2003, the last Redbird train made its final trip on this route, making all stops between Times Square and the then-named Willets Point–Shea Stadium.

[87][88] On June 26, 1999, First Lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater designated the 7 route as a National Millennium Trail (under the name "International Express"), along with 15 other routes including the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the Underground Railroad.

[89][90] The following table shows the line used by the 7 and <7>, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:[91] <7> trains typically run express east of Queensboro Plaza.

As of June 2023[update], due to structural renovations on the IRT Flushing Line, <7> trains only run express east of 74th Street–Broadway.