Flushing Local and Express
Northern end	Flushing – Main Street
Southern end	Times Square (current) 34th Street (future)
Stations	21 (local service) 11 (express service)
Rolling stock	R188[1][2] (Rolling stock assignments subject to change)

The 7 Flushing Local and <7> Flushing Express are two rapid transit services in the A Division of the New York City Subway, providing local and express services along the full length of the IRT Flushing Line. The logo is colored purple on station signs, route signs and the official subway map with local service denoted by a circular 7, express service by a 7 in diamond-shape. Both services operate between Main Street in Flushing, Queens and Times Square in Midtown Manhattan.

Local service operates at all times. Express service runs only during rush hours and early evenings in the peak direction. "Super Express" service to Manhattan is also provided after New York Mets games weeknights and weekends at Citi Field and US Open (tennis) games: starting at Mets – Willets Point and operating express to Times Square, also bypassing Junction Boulevard, Hunters Point Avenue and Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue.^[3]

The 7 is nicknamed the "International Express,"^[4][5] in part because it travels through several different ethnic neighborhoods populated by U.S. immigrants, especially along Roosevelt Avenue, and in part because it was the principal line that served the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. This name is not official, nor is the title used in day-to-day operations.

On June 13, 1915, the first test train on the IRT Flushing Line ran between Grand Central and Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue, followed by the start of revenue service on June 22. Over the next thirteen years, the line was extended piece by piece to its current form between Times Square and Flushing – Main Street.

The 7 designation has been assigned to its current route since the introduction of front rollsigns on the R12 in 1948.

From May 13, 1985 to August 21, 1989, the IRT Flushing Line was overhauled for improvements, including the installation of new track, repair of station structures and to improve line infrastructure. The major element was the replacement of rails on the Queens Boulevard viaduct. Express service was suspended for the duration of the project; however, extra service was provided for Mets games and Flushing Meadows Park events. Upon the completion of the project, express service was restored, but express trains bypassed 61st Street – Woodside because the Transit Authority was concerned about passengers transferring between local and express trains at that station. The stop was added a few months later after pressure from community opposition.^[6]

In the mid-1990s, the MTA discovered that the Queens Boulevard viaduct structure was unstable, as rocks that were used to support the tracks as ballast became loose due to poor drainage, which, in turn, affected the integrity of the concrete structure overall. Express service was suspended between 61st Street – Woodside and Queensboro Plaza; temporary platforms were installed to access the express track in the four intermediate stations.^[7] The work began in April 1993. When the viaduct reconstruction finished on March 31, 1997, full express service was reinstated.^[8]

In 1999, express service was expanded from rush hours only to weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. However, this expansion was cut back in 2009 due to frequent midday construction.

Work has been underway since 2008 to convert the 7 service to accommodate CBTC. Expected to cost $585.9 million, CBTC will allow two additional trains per hour as well as two additional trains for the 7 Subway Extension, providing a 7% increase in capacity.^[9] (Currently, service on the 7 is currently limited to 27 trains per hour (tph) as a result of the bumper blocks at Times Square. A new terminal at 34th Street has tail tracks to store rush-hour trains and will increase the service frequency to 29 tph.^[9]) New cars on order for the A Division (the R188 contract) are compatible with CBTC. Installation of CBTC and delivery of the trains will both be completed in 2016.^[9]

The 7 Subway Extension southwest to 34th Street – 11th Avenue, near the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, is currently under construction and is scheduled to be completed in late summer or early fall 2014, but will not be opened by November 2014.^[10] Before the opening was pushed back three times, it was scheduled to open in December 2013. The 34th Street station's construction project itself will not be completed until the end of 2015.^[11][12]

On November 16, 2010, New York City officials announced they are considering a further extension of the service across the Hudson River to the Secaucus Junction train station in New Jersey.^[13] As of October 26, 2011 tentative support for the extension has been given by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as well as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in comments to the press.^[14][15] However, in April 2013, MTA former chairman Joseph Lhota announced that the 7 train would not be extended to New Jersey due to the high costs of the project, which included constructing a subway yard and a subway tunnel in New Jersey. Instead, Lhota put his support behind Amtrak’s Gateway Tunnel project which entails a new tunnel to Manhattan for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains.^[16]

The 7 operates with 11-car sets; the number of cars in a single 7 train set is more than in any other New York City Subway service. These trains are not the longest in the system, since a train of 11 "A" Division cars is only 561 feet (171 m) long, while a standard B Division train, which consists of ten 60-foot cars or eight 75-foot cars, is 600 feet (180 m) long.

The Steinway Low-V was built between 1915 and 1925 specifically for use on the current 7 train. They had special gear ratios to climb the steep grades (4.5%) in the Steinway Tunnels, something standard Interborough equipment could not do.^[17]

In 1938, an order of all-new World's Fair cars was placed with the St. Louis Car Company. These cars broke from IRT "tradition" in that they did not have vestibules at each car end. In addition, because the IRT was bankrupt at the time, the cars were built as single ended cars, with train controls for the motorman on one side and door controls for the conductor on the other. These cars spent their last days on the elevated IRT Third Avenue Line in The Bronx.

In 1964, the picture window R33/R36 World's Fair cars replaced the older R15s for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The 7 was the last stronghold for the "Redbird" cars. Until December 2001, the entire fleet was dominated by the R33/R36 WF "Bluebird" cars. In 2001, with the arrival of the R142/R142A cars, the Transit Authority announced the retirement of all Redbird cars. From January 2002 to November 2003, the Bombardier-built R62A cars formerly used on the 3 and 6 trains gradually replaced all of the R33/36 WF cars on the 7. 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.^[18]

Several Redbird cars running on this service were decorated with Mets logos and colors during the 2000 Subway Series against the New York Yankees, as the Flushing Line runs adjacent to Citi Field and the former location of Shea Stadium. Some R33/R36 WFs remain in Corona Yard, adjacent to Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Citi Field.

Currently, all of the R62As on the 7 have been upgraded with LED lighted signs to distinguish between express and local trains. These signs are located on the rollsigns that are found on the side of each car. The local is a green circle around the 7 service bullet while the express is a red diamond. Previously, the rollsigns showed either a 7 (within a circle) or a <7> (within a diamond) with the word "Express" underneath it. They will be replaced by R188 subway cars through 2016, and the displaced R62As will most likely be placed on either the 4, 5, or 6 services.^[19][20]

By 2016, R188 cars equipped with communications-based train control (CBTC) will run on the 7, outfitted for the automation equipment for the Flushing Line. The first train of R188 cars began operating in passenger service on November 9, 2013.^[21][22]

In addition to providing six extra 11-car trains for the 7 Subway Extension, the R188s will allow twenty R62A expansion cars to be freed up for the other seven IRT services.

• 
  An R36 7 local northbound at 33rd Street–Rawson Street. The 7 train's fleet consisted entirely of these cars (called "Redbirds") before their retirement in 2003.
• 
  Manhattan-bound 7 train of R62As, which comprise the current 7 train fleet, at Mets – Willets Point
• 
  Green circle denotes a Template:NYCS-bull-small local train.
• 
  Red diamond denotes an Template:NYCS-bull-small express train.
• 
  Train of R188 cars departs the 52nd Street station. The R188s will displace the 7 train's current R62A fleet.

The following table shows the line used by the 7 and <7> trains, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Line	From	To	Tracks	Times
				rush peak	all times
IRT Flushing Line	Flushing – Main Street	33rd Street – Rawson Street	express
			local
	Queensboro Plaza	Times Square	all

For a more detailed station listing, see IRT Flushing Line.

Station service legend
	Stops 24 hours a day
	Stops every day during daytime hours only
	Stops during weekday daytime hours only
	Station closed
	Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

		Stations		Subway transfers	Connections/Notes
Queens
		Flushing – Main Street			LIRR Port Washington Branch at Flushing Main Street Q48 to LaGuardia Airport
		Mets – Willets Point	[23][24]		formerly Willets Point – Shea Stadium LIRR Port Washington Branch at Mets – Willets Point (special events only) Q48 to LaGuardia Airport Northern terminus for some rush hour local trains
		111th Street			Q48 to LaGuardia Airport Northern terminus for some Flushing-bound local trains during the AM rush hours
		103rd Street – Corona Plaza
		Junction Boulevard			Q72 to LaGuardia Airport
		90th Street – Elmhurst Avenue
		82nd Street – Jackson Heights
		74th Street – Broadway		E  ​F  <F> ​M  ​R  (IND Queens Boulevard Line)	Q70 to LaGuardia Airport Q47 to LaGuardia Airport Marine Air Terminal
		69th Street
		61st Street – Woodside			LIRR City Terminal Zone at Woodside Q70 to LaGuardia Airport
		52nd Street
		46th Street – Bliss Street
		40th Street – Lowery Street
		33rd Street – Rawson Street
		Queensboro Plaza		N  ​W  (BMT Astoria Line)
		Court Square		G  (IND Crosstown Line) E  ​F  <F> (IND Queens Boulevard Line at Court Square – 23rd Street)
		Hunters Point Avenue			LIRR City Terminal Zone at Hunterspoint Avenue (peak hours only)
		Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue			LIRR City Terminal Zone at Long Island City (peak hours only)
Manhattan
		Grand Central		4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) S  (42nd Street Shuttle)	Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal
		Fifth Avenue		B  ​D  ​F  <F> ​M  (IND Sixth Avenue Line at 42nd Street – Bryant Park)
		Times Square		1  ​2  ​3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line) A  ​C  ​E  (IND Eighth Avenue Line at 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal) N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  (BMT Broadway Line) S  (42nd Street Shuttle)	Port Authority Bus Terminal
		34th Street - Hudson Yards		Under construction, scheduled opening in November 2014[10]	M34 Select Bus Service

• Express service runs weekdays from 6:30 to 10:00 a.m. going to Times Square and 3:00 to 9:30 p.m. (15:00 to 21:30) going to Flushing – Main Street as well as after games at Citi Field.

External videos
A Weekend at Work: Flushing Line May 2011, Metropolitan Transportation Authority; July 21, 2011; 3:42 YouTube video clip

• MTA New York City Transit – 7 Flushing Local
• MTA New York City Transit – 7 Flushing Express
• "7 Subway Timetable, Effective June 23, 2025". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
• Safari 7 – Tour of Urban Wildlife along the 7 train
• Template:PDFlink
• City Raises $2 Billion In Bonds For No. 7 Train Extension - NY1 local news channel (retrieved on 12/07/2006)
• Once Upon A Time In Queens: Number 7 Train Provides Real Connection To History - NY1 local news channel (retrieved on 05/25/2010)