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TRANSPORT

London double-decker cruises to new life in Japan

AFP, Shimonoseki, Japan
The double-decker Routemaster bus, a phased-out London icon, is gaining a second life in a Japanese city that believes the red road giant fits right in.
Families and tourists snapped pictures as they queued up at a bus stop to hop onto a double-decker, which has been running on weekends since April in Shimonoseki, on the southern tip of Japan's biggest island of Honshu.
As a summer breeze wafted along the seafront, passengers waved to people on the streets below from the second level of the Routemaster, which stood out conspicuously in the city's fleet of non-descript buses.
"The scenery of this town is totally different when I see it from the second floor," said Mayumi Nakamura, a 33-year-old housewife. "I hope the London bus will be a new symbol of Shimonoseki."
The port city of some 300,000 people once flourished as a gateway to the Korean peninsula and China before World War II and as a whaling hub.
Reminders abound of the historical significance of the city, including a pre-World War II British consulate and the hall where Japan and China signed the 1895 treaty that gave Tokyo control ofTaiwan.
"At first I wondered if the London bus would suit die city but now I can tell it's well suited to the retro look of the city," said Chikako Uyama, a 32-year-old nurse.
The number of passengers topped 10,000 in less than four months, well above an initial estimate, said local official Masaru Hamamura.
"The London bus has become very popular as a means of transport for both tourists and local citizens," Hamamura said.
The Routemaster, built in 1962, is among six that were given out by
London in a bid to promote the British capital. The others were sent to The Hague, Moscow, Paris, Barbados and Jamaica.
But while the bus is almost untouched on the outside, the city spent more than 10 million yen (91,000 dollars) to overhaul the vehicle, which is now run by a local bus company.
The Routemaster, which has been mostly withdrawn from London due to high costs and safety concerns, had to be altered to meet Japanese regulations, including setting up an emergency exit.
The Routemaster, 8.4 metres (27.7 feet) long and 4.4 metres high, travels some nine kilometres (five and a half miles) a day connecting Shimonoseki station with Chofu, a historical castle town in the suburbs.
The diesel-powered bus can carry a maximum 65 passengers with a one-way ticket costing 350 yen (3.20 dollars).
"The bus was tough to drive because it has its own style," said Takao Odamura, a 54-year-old bus driver wearing a red Polo shirt and a red sun visor, the uniform of driv-ers trained to drive the Routemaster.
"The steering wheel is heavy and vibration can be felt on rough roads," Odamura said. "But driving the London bus is a lot of fun as people wave their hands to us with a big smile, which had never happened before in my career."
Kenji Nakatsuru, another Routemaster driver, said: "It was so scary as the roof is high so the bal ance can shift really easily. But I'm used to it. I hope it will top the tourists' list in Shimonoseki."
The bus still has a London number plate. But passengers thinking they arc in London should be warned of one major difference hopping on while the bus is moving is strictly forbidden in Japan.