LDN- buses on loan- again

On Saturday, route 7 passed from First to Metroline.
The route requires 22 buses, and Metroline ordered 24 Olympus bodied Scania for the service.
the new buses have not arrived yet, so Metroline had to find other buses !
the solution was to hire about 15 double decks from First, and halt the refurbishment programme for their own buses, releasing some spare buses for the duration.

The operating garage for route 7 is Perivale [code PV]; PV opeate routes 7 205 297 & 460.
from Metroline, 10 TPLs were transferred from HT [Holloway] garage- the first time those opeated from PV,
and from First 4-5 TNLs plus about 10 TNAs also arrived.
By agreement with TfL/London Buses, the hired buses from First would not be operating on routes 7 & 205 'to avoid confusion', so PV garage chose to use the hired vehicles on route 297 [needing 15 buses].
The interesting thing is that route 297 USED TO BE operated by First many years ago, so it is funny to see First buses on the route again!

in the meanwhile, route 7 is opeated by TPs and TPLs. and the TPLs also appear on the other routes.

Here are three photos to illustrate the change:

First: TNA32950 [alx400 trident 10.6m long] on route 297, then TNL32901 at wembley, and finally TPL238 offloading - all on route 297.