More Routemaster than Borismaster, the JSP Yutong Citymaster rules the roads in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia with the same presence as the Borismaster in London. No open rear platform, but the second set of doors is at the rear alongside the nearside staircase. The front stairs are on the offside behind the driver's cab with a singe seat and luggage rack opposite. Passengers can sit in the seat whilst they do their financial transaction with the driver, who sits in his cab, which he can shut himself in conducting transactions through a pay window behind him and to his right! It seems to work. JSP is encouraging off bus ticket sales with a 5 dinah discount on the 35 dinah flat fare. Originally all buses had a white band, but these are disappearing - perhaps a TfL influence? There is something surreal seeing a red doubledeck bus crossing one of the many bridges over the River Vardar amidst civic buildings that make you think you are back in London. Most routes seem to head out of the city deep into rural countryside, providing incongrous sites of these city buses negotiating passage along country lanes with quaint farm tractors. On open stretches the Mercedes powered Citymasters make swift progress and with temperatures pushing 40C in the summer, the air conditioning is good, though opening windows are provided, presumably in case of failure. As a treat, around a dozen Citymasters have been supplied as open toppers, but with retractable canvas roofs. Ostensibly for the City Tour, which appears to only need one bus a day, the buses fill in randomly on ordinary city routes.
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