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What does "постоянен контрол" mean in this case? There`s a conductor selling tickets on board?
Yes. As as way to decrease the number of clandestine passengers (which on suburban lines is usually high) since 2012 there are conductors on board of most buses on suburban lines. They either sell tickets to the passengers or check the validity of their pre-purchased tickets and passes.
BTW. Could you take photo of details of Sofia Ikaruses? Like driver cabinet, engine, gearbox etc. Because I am very curious about some things.
I will see if I could do that. After all Ikarus buses are decommissioned I`m going to ask for permission to enter Malashevtsi depot and take pictures in details. Meanwhile here you can find a lot of detailed pictures of Ikarus buses and, in fact, all public transport vehicles in Sofia:
http://www.spirka.org/
Here are pictures in detail of 2252, although this bus is not from the Bulgarian modification 280.04. It was imported around 1991 from GDR.
http://www.spirka.org/?action=gallery_file&file_id=18141 - this photo insist that this bus has D10 or D2156UT engine not pure D2156HM6U engine. That is why I am curious about it. I am especially looking for this crop: http://phototrans.net/14,750953,0,Ikarus_280_33_BHK_483.html
All Ikarus buses in Sofia currently have Raba D10 engines. The last one with Raba D2156HM6U was 2426, it received a D10 engine in 2010.
But do they have engine from the beginning or they received it by some modernization?
Originally all Ikarus buses had Raba D2156HM6U engines. Later, around 2005, 187 of them received new D10 engines. Buses 34** from Druzhba depot were converted to dual-fuel gas-diesel buses, they kept their original D2156 engines. 2426 was one of these buses (former 3408), it received a D10 engine in 2010 after it was transfered to Malashevtsi depot and the gas bottles were removed. All buses 34** were scrapped in 2011 except for 3457 (now 2420), 3468 (now 2427), 3404 (now 2097) and 3408 (now 2426).
Because Raba D10 engines are more powerful. 280 h.p. turbocharged against 192 h.p. for the D2156HM6U. Ikarus buses on line 120 climbed the hill on Yavorov blvd. before the TV tower on 3rd gear. After they were fitted with D10 engines they began climbing the same hill on 6th gear. By the way, buses were not only fitted with new engines, but also with new 6-speed gearboxes. I read that Ikarus buses in Sofia received D10 engines for the first time in 1995, at first only a few units and then gradually almost all buses in the fleet had their D2156 engines replaced with D10.
Many Ikarus buses (including 2412) received Voith DIWA 3 automatic transmissions together with the new D10 engines. I don`t know exactly how many buses got automatics though.