Karosa B 741


Karosa B 741 is an articulated urban bus produced by bus manufacturer Karosa from the Czech Republic, in the years of 1991 to 1997. In many towns they replaced Ikarus 280 made in Hungary. In production was succeeded by Karosa B 941 in 1997.

Construction features

Karosa B 741 is a model of the Karosa 700 series. The B 741 is derived from the Karosa C 744 articulated intercity bus, and also unified with city bus models such as the B 731 and the B 732. It is made of two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint. The body is semi-self-supporting with frame and engine with automatic gearbox in the rear part. The engine drives only the third C axle, meaning that this articulated bus has a pusher configuration. The front axle is independent, middle and rear axles are solid. All axles are mounted on air suspension. On the right side are four doors. Inside are used leatherette seats, plastic Vogelsitze or Fainsa seats. The driver's cab is separated from the rest of the vehicle by a glazed partition. In the middle part and in the rear part is room for a pram or wheelchair. Original buses produced until 1995 had an open design of turntable, buses delivered in 1996 already have an enclosed design of the turntable as a successor Karosa B 941.

Production and operation

Prototype of Karosa B741 was done by rebuilding Karosa C 744 in the year 1991. By end of this year started serial production, which continued until 1997. Largest operator was Prague transport company and Bratislava transport company. Between the years 1991 and 1997 was produced 620 of these buses.
These buses were operated also in other Czech cities, like Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, Zlín, or in Slovakian cities like Košice or Nitra.

Some buses were also operated in Poland, Lithuania and Russia
Currently, number of Karosa B741 buses is reduced, due to supply of new low-floor buses, for example by SOR NB 18 made in Czech Republic and Irisbus Citelis 18m made in France, Italy and Czech Republic.
Karosa B 741 operated in Prague were retired on 6 June 2015. The last city that Karosas were on service was Vilnius, they were retired in 2017.