SWITZERLAND: On April 28 Swiss Federal Railways announced that it was to order a fleet of 17 low-floor articulated trainsets to operate its Seetalbahn line between Luzern and Lenzburg. The eight-axle GTW cars will be supplied by Stadler Fahrzeuge AG and Adtranz for SFr100m, and will have seats for 160 passengers each. The vehicles will also be used on the Aarau - Brugg and Brugg - Muri branches.
At the same time SBB allocated a further SFr22m for modernisation of the line. New signalling is to be provided throughout, controlled from the existing Luzern operating centre. Around 2 km of track and 28 points are to be renewed, and platforms at all stations are to be rebuilt to match the 350mm floor height of the new trains.
The Seetalbahn has over 300 level crossings, and a very poor accident record, but improvement work to segregate road and rail has been under way for several years in conjunction with the cantons of Aargau and Luzern.
