London Buses route 7

7
Metroline East Lancs Olympus bodied Scania N230UD in June 2014
Overview
Operator	Metroline
Garage	West Perivale (PA)
Night-time	Night Bus N7
Route
Start	East Acton
Via	Ladbroke Grove Paddington
End	Oxford Circus

London Buses route 7 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between East Acton and Oxford Circus, it is operated by Metroline.

Route 7's history can be traced back to 1 November 1908, when an un-numbered daily route operating between Wormwood Scrubs and Liverpool Street station, was allocated route number 7.

Between 1910 and 1920, route 7 was operated entirely by X-type vehicles. It was the only route in London to use these vehicles regularly.

The rerouting of Red Arrow route 501 from Aldgate to London Bridge in 1970, resulted in route 7 being cut back to Bloomsbury, near to Tottenham Court Road, on 24 January 1970.

The route was run with crew-operated AEC Routemasters for many years. These were replaced on 3 July 2004 by low-floor double-deckers released from route 25.

Due to the partial closure of Oxford Street for Crossrail works, on 16 June 2014 the route has had its eastern terminus relocated from Russell Square to Oxford Circus.

Metroline was awarded the contract for route 7 starting on 23 June 2007 and has successfully retained the route with a new contract starting on 21 June 2014.

A serious incident occurred on 13 June 1957, when a RTL-type bus on route 7A ran into a queue of waiting passengers on Oxford Street, killing eight people. The driver had collapsed with heat exhaustion.