The Q operates 24 hours a day between 96th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

From 1988 to 2001, Q service ran along the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan, with a bullet colored orange.

Passengers could make connections with the horsecars of the Brooklyn City Railroad at the Prospect Park terminal.

LIRR trains also operated to Brighton Beach from Flatbush Avenue and from its own terminal in Long Island City, with ferry access to Midtown Manhattan.

At the end of the 1882 summer season, the LIRR abrogated its agreement allowing Brighton Line trains to access its Flatbush Avenue terminal and beginning with the 1883 summer season, only Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island trains operated between Bedford Terminal and Brighton Beach.

These trains ran from Brighton Beach, up the Franklin Avenue and Fulton Street lines to the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge, where walking or transferring to a cable car service connection over the bridge allowed access to New York City Hall at Park Row in Manhattan.

[5]: 21 In 1908, a massive grade crossing elimination project was completed with a 4-track line from south of Church Avenue station to Neptune Avenue near the Coney Island Creek, permitting true local and express service, as pioneered on the New York City Subway that opened in 1904.

[7] On August 1, 1920, subway service on the BMT Brighton Line, then owned by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), officially began with the openings of a two-track underground subway between Prospect Park and DeKalb Avenue and the Montague Street Tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Express service began operating between the AM rush hour and noon on Saturday mornings in April 1930.

1 Local trains were extended via the 60th Street Tunnel and the BMT Astoria Line to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard during weekday rush hours, and on Saturday mornings and early afternoons.

[9] On June 26, 1952, 1 Express trains were extended from Times Square to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue on weekdays after the morning rush hour, running local north of 34th Street.

The final portion of the Broadway Line's express tracks, between Times Square–42nd Street and 57th Street–Seventh Avenue, was placed in service on May 2, 1957.

As part of the same service change, Brighton Local trains, beginning on June 6, ran to Franklin Avenue via the route of the 7 Shuttle on Saturdays.

Effective January 1, 1961, Q Brighton Express service was cut back from Ditmars Boulevard to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue on weekdays, with trains skipping 49th Street.

The QB provided off-peak service between Coney Island and Astoria, via Brighton Local and the Manhattan Bridge.

With the arrival of new subway cars to the line, which provided improved running times, trains making local stops between Brighton Beach and Prospect Park did so in only 1+1⁄2 minutes longer than existing express service.

[14] From February 10 to November 2, 1964, the Brighton Express tracks were closed to permit platform extension work at Newkirk Avenue.

The Q and QT went out of existence completely, but due to riders' opposition to the expected loss of all Broadway Line service, some QB trains were retained, now running rush hours only in the peak direction between Coney Island and 57th Street via Brighton Local, the Manhattan Bridge, and Broadway Express in Manhattan.

The color scheme introduced for subway lines that day included a red QB bullet.

The last PM rush hour QB train started at Ditmars Boulevard, having previously made a trip in RR service.

[19]Starting on April 26, 1986, the Brighton Line's local tracks underwent reconstruction between Prospect Park and Newkirk Avenue, requiring the suspension of express service; at the same time, reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge started, which would disrupt subway service until 2004.

[21] By 1987, as reconstruction on the Brighton Line progressed, the weekday skip-stop pattern expanded to Prospect Park, with D trains serving Beverley Road while Q trains served Cortelyou Road and Parkside Avenue, with Church Avenue as a mutual station.

[8] On October 29, 1989, the IND 63rd Street Line opened and the B, Q, and JFK Express were extended to 21st Street–Queensbridge in Long Island City.

Weekday evening service terminated at Broadway–Lafayette Street in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn; these trains relayed at Second Avenue in order to change direction.

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

Initially, Q service would operate between 207th Street and Brighton Beach during weekday rush hours and middays, making express stops along its entire route.

[25] On February 6, 1995, Q trains began running local south of Kings Highway due to rehabilitation work on the Brighton Line.

During this time, service at stations between Brighton Beach and Stillwell Avenue was replaced by an extension of the B68 bus.

[30][31] From April 27[32] to November 2, 2003, the south side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed on weekends and Q service was rerouted via the Montague Street Tunnel.

This will provide residents of East Harlem with direct subway service to the Upper East Side, western Midtown, Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and offer connections to 4, ​5, ​6, and <6> trains and Metro-North from the Bronx, the northern suburbs of New York City, and southern Connecticut.