MACEDONIA: London's famous bright red Leyland double decker buses were a common sight in Skopje's streets until an earthquake in the 60s destroyed most of them, now a new fleet is bringing some flair back to the city's streets

Record ID: 772519

  • Title: MACEDONIA: London's famous bright red Leyland double decker buses were a common sight in Skopje's streets until an earthquake in the 60s destroyed most of them, now a new fleet is bringing some flair back to the city's streets
  • Date: 28th September 2011
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Macedonian) PASSENGER FROM SKOPJE, SAYING: "They are quite easy to get in and out of."
  • Embargoed: 13th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
  • Country: Macedonia
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAA95N0W3KN6G39CMFPOSNKI2RU
  • Story Text: A familiar sight on the streets of London, Macedonia's capital now has its very own fleet of red double-decker buses. Following the design of the 1950s, Skopje's JSP bus company hopes to not only provide better public transport, but bring a bit of retro flair back to the city's streets.
    The first shipment of 67 custom-made buses arrived in Macedonia in September from a Chinese factory, but the routemaster has retained a part of its English roots.
    "These double-decker buses have an American engine produced in the UK, with high quality ECO 5. The framework is made in Germany, only the chassis is made in China. So, they are very contemporary buses," a driver already out and about with his new double-decker said.
    In total Skopje is aiming to bring 200 double-deckers onto the streets, with two open tops to ferry tourists about town.
    At a cost of 40 million euros for a potential 202 closed buses and 2.5 million euros for 15 open top buses, there have been some complaints the money could have been better spent, especially as the city's trees were treated to a month-long forced trim in order for the buses to fit.
    But, says retired bus driver, Ilcho Nedelkovski, the buses are a vast improvement, as he remembers people fainting because of the high temperatures and engines that ate fuel and emitted a fair stench.
    More than anything, says Nedelkovski, the buses are a childhood nostalgia.
    "This is a tradition of Skopje. It started around 50 years ago when the first double-decker buses started and we, when we were young, used to wait especially to get up on the top deck and enjoy the trip. It was such a pleasure."
    Many of the original Leylands were up to 20-years-old by the time they got to Skopje and according to Nedelkovski, swallowed up vast amounts of money in repairs.
    "As a child I used the double-deckers that came from England and I remember that they were from the scrap yard. They had mechanical problems but there were good mechanics and they fixed things. Now when our government told us we were going to get double-deckers I welcomed the news with great pleasure. Since my early childhood I wanted to climb onto the second floor and sit in the front seat, " added another traveller.
    Bus drivers who have taken the helm of the double-deckers say they have been given extra training , but say the new technology makes them even easier to drive than the old fleet.
    For Skopje's state-run transport service, JSP, the idea was to revive the old 'spirit of Skopje' as well as revive the fortunes of the bus terminal.
    "This means a lot for JSP because of you go back just one year, JSP was at the bottom of the list in Europe with the oldest garages and we didn't even know if the buses would leave the garage every morning. But now we have modern buses filling all the standards from A/C, low floors and lots of automation," said JSP general manager, Misho Nikolov.
    Skopje aims to have the whole fleet up and running by 2013.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register