Aatal in 1990), 540 008 (fire between Safenwil and Walterswil-Striegel, 1998) and 540 023 (fire at Eglisau, 2000) were discarded. RBe 540 019 was sold to the Oensingen-Balsthal Bahn. Operation The RBe 540 are usually used together with one or more Einheitswagen ("standard coaches") I or II as well as a control car BDt or Bt for commuter service. Together with their modernization, the EW I/II and control cars were also modernized to match the new livery. Nowadays, these consists serve regional lines with low passenger frequencies and supplement services normally run by NPZ consists, but are progressively replaced by the modern Stadler GTW. On the S-Bahn Zurich network, special consists can be seen, consisting of two RBe 540 on the front and back of the train with six modernized EW I or II in between, which avoids the pointless use of control cars, because shorter consists couldn't provide enough capacity anyway and a single multiple unit would not be able to deliver enough acceleration for S-Bahn operation. The free control cars are used together with EW I/II and Re 4/4II locomotives to create more push–pull trains. Some RBe 540 rented from Thurbo were also used by the S-Bahn St. Gallen until 2005, together with an EW AB and a BDt. It also happens during wintertime that RBe 540 have to replace the newer RBDe 560 multiple units, often due to issues with the doors; then one can see RBe 540 multiple units together with NPZ control cars, living up to the joke about the name NPZ (NPZ = Nichts Passt Zusammen = "nothing fits together"). See also List of stock used by Swiss Federal Railways Bibliography Paul Winter (1959) SBB-Fibeln - Heft 1, Unsere Triebfahrzeuge. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zürich Paul Winter: SBB-Fibeln – Heft 5, Unsere Wagen. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zürich, 1948 Reto Danuser und Hans Streiff (2011) Die elektrischen und Dieseltriebfahrzeuge der SBB (Teil 2), Konstruktionsjahre 1952-1975, Minirex, Luzern, . External links Description of the SBB RBe 4/4 from Bruno Lämmli (German) More pictures of the RBe 540 by Salem Blum Eisenbahn Bilder Brown, Boveri & Cie multiple units Multiple units of Switzerland 15 kV AC multiple units