Route
Line 7 runs for 18.6 km (12 mi) completely underground, stopping at 38 stations. Southbound trains terminate alternately at Villejuif – Louis Aragon and Mairie d'Ivry, diverging at Maison Blanche. Late at night, through trains only operate to Mairie d'Ivry; a shuttle train from Maison Blanche ensures the traffic to Villejuif.
In the north, the line begins at La Courneuve in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis at the intersection of National Routes 2 and 186. La Courneuve station acts as a transfer between the Métro and Paris' fragmented, suburban tramway system, with a station on Paris Tramway Line 1 (T1). Unlike most stations in Paris, there are three tracks, with the central one used for departures and arrivals.
Running below National Route 2 (RN2), the line heads to the south-west, entering Paris in two single-line tunnels so as to avoid a now-unused terminal loop at Porte de la Villette. It then descends a 4% grade below Canal Saint-Denis and then climbs back up to stop at Corentin Cariou. Line 7 furthers then down along the Canal de l'Ourcq and reaches Stalingrad, a transfer point with Lines 2 and 5, where the line turns to engage below Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin before splitting in two stations at Louis Blanc, where the original fork was located. Line 7 then carries on below the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin before turning west to reaching Gare de l'Est, an important train station connecting to the East of France and Europe, at a hub station shared with Line 5 which comes through east. Line 7 thencarries on westbound to the Rue Lafayette, at the Poissonière station. Next three stations (Cadet, Le Pèletier and Chaussée d'Antin) are also under said axis. Line then diverges south at the origin of Rue Lafayette, to reach its initial origin : the Place de l'Opéra (lines 3 & 8, as well as RER line A at Auber station).
Line 7 then turns southeast under the eponymous street and calls two more stops, Pyramides (line 14) and Palais Royal (line 1), before engaging in a sinuous curve set towards the Seine carefully avoiding the foundations of both the Louvre and Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, before reaching Pont Neuf station and its service track, then heading straight to Châtelet (formerly called Pont Notre-Dame and far enough from lines 1 and 4's respective stations to not be transferable) then to Pont Marie, then to Sully-Morland, all along the Docks of the Seine. Line 7 then finally curves south to cross the Parisian river, under the former Halle aux Vins and now university of Jussieu.
After a specific curve meant to reach Place Monge without endangering the former Roman Arenas of Lutetia, line 7 catches the Montparnasse – Austerlitz axis at les Gobelins, before heading south to Place d'Italie, terminus of line 5 and crossing with line 6, the southern part of Paris Métro's inner rocade. Line 7 dives beneath the two, which are located at the same level and were several times merged together throughout the 20th century.
Line 7 then heads back a bit up south to call the Tolbiac station, before diving back down at Maison Blanche, where the pink line splits into its two current branches right beneath the former Petite Ceinture.
The Ivry branch sticks at level and turns east to call at the Porte d'Italie station and its suburban bus hub, then follows the city's Boulevard des Maréchaux for two more stops : Porte de Choisy (Tramway line 9) and Porte d'Ivry, the line's former southern terminus with its three tracks and large workshops. Line 7 then casually exits Paris and enters Ivry-sur-Seine, reaching the Pierre et Marie Curie station right at the exit of the former back stops, then enters a 36,75‰ curve up to reach Mairie d'Ivry, the line's southern termini.
The Villejuif branch splits and dives from the Ivry branch, then sprints along the Choisy workshops out of Paris into le Kremlin-Bicêtre with one stop, then Villejuif with three including the terminus, all under the Nationale 7.
