Prague’s public transport company (DPP) has added a Škoda 706 RTO MTZ, manufactured at the end of 1970, to its retro bus fleet. Originally, this bus, with the number 141, was used for regular public transport in Jihlava. DPP will use it for the first time on Sunday, 20 October 2024, on the retro line K. The company also plans to use the bus for tourist adventure tours in Prague and the surrounding area.
The latest addition to DPP’s retro bus fleet is identical in design to the buses that were used for regular local transport in Prague in the 1960s. The bus was in service in Jihlava until 1977, after which it was decommissioned. In 1978, the Jihlava transport company sold the vehicle to an agricultural co-operative in Dolní Cerekev, where the bus served as a changing room for field workers. In the 1990s, a private owner acquired the bus with the aim of using it for retro and adventure tours in Jihlava. The vehicle was completely overhauled in 2021.
“The plans for retro trips in Jihlava were not realized, so the fully renovated bus was finally put up for sale. We seized this opportunity, as there are hardly any buses left in such good technical condition after a general overhaul. It fits perfectly with our plan to expand DPP’s retro bus fleet with exactly this type of bus. This will enable us to make operations on the K line more attractive and also use the bus for adventure tours, which we would like to expand further—similar to the historic trams. We are considering, for example, tours along former bus routes,” says Jan Šurovský, board member and Technical Director of DPP.
In the DPP workshop in Hostivař, the vehicle was further restored by replacing a mismatched rear window and applying stickers to give the bus the look of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The vehicle now bears the symbolic number 4781, which corresponds to the last series of this bus type delivered to DPP in 1968. At that time, 39 buses with the numbers 4760-4799 were put into service. Internally, the bus will be assigned the operating number 9008, although this is not the official route number in the Prague Integrated Transport System (PID).
“Our new RTO will be used for the first time on Sunday, 20 October 2024, on the retro line K and will replace the articulated Karosa bus with the number 6380, which we would like to sell. The bus will be seen regularly on the K line until the end of the season and will return next year in March. It will also be part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of regular bus operation in Prague, which will take place on the weekend of 21 and 22 June 2025,” adds Petr Malík, Head of DPP’s Historical Vehicle Unit.
Brief Information on the Škoda 706 RTO MTZ Buses
This bus type was a further development of the Škoda 706 RO. The so-called RTOs formed the backbone of municipal bus fleets in the 1960s. The Škoda 706 RTO was built on a chassis from the LIAZ company in Mnichovo Hradiště. The diesel engine, with a displacement of 11,781 cm³ and an output of 117.6 kW (160 hp), enabled a top speed of 66 km/h. The seats were fitted with latex cushions covered with PVC. Later models had a roof covered with artificial leather. The buses differed in their seating arrangements and window ventilation.
The first Škoda 706 RTO MTZs were added to the DPP fleet in 1959; DPP operated a total of 489 vehicles of this type. Further licensed models followed in the 1970s, but these were technically outdated. Operation of this bus series was discontinued in 1979.
