the worst safety record of all SBB lines. Between 1987 and 1992 the line accounted for around half of all the SBB's level crossing accidents and there were nine fatalities on the line. Improvement of safety was therefore a major target for the line. Although the line's infrastructure had many of the attributes of a roadside tramway or light railway, it was operated using standard heavy rail rolling stock, with its greater width and longer stopping distances. Various options were investigated, including a major realignment of the line to more conventional heavy rail standands, but this had the twin disadvantages of a very high cost coupled with losing the attractiveness of bringing public transport to the hearts of the villages along the line. Conversion to light rail was also discussed, and a vehicle from the Saarbrücken tramway was tried out on the line in 1998. In the end, the decision was made to build new heavy rail railcars for the line, but to build these with low floors and using a limited width. The reduction in width allowed the infrastructure on the northern section of the line, between Lenzburg and Hitzkirch, to be reconfigured providing more space between parallel road lanes and at level crossings. Enhanced brakes on the new railcars allowed tramway-like 'on sight' operation through the villages with a maximum speed of , whilst speed on other parts of the line was increased to . Other parts of the line were realigned to avoid conflict and as many level crossings as possible were removed. Operation As a consequence of the reduction of the loading gauge width from to , only specially cleared vehicles can use the northern section of the line between Lenzburg and Hitzkirch. The southern section, from Lucerne to Hitzkirch, still has a normal profile, allowing freight and other traffic to operate. Passenger services are operated by the SBB RABe 520, a wide, four section variant of the Stadler GTW train. This variant was specially created for the Seetal line, although it is cleared to operate anywhere on the SBB network. The passenger service on the line operates every half-hour, and is designated as service S9 of the Lucerne S-Bahn. References External links Railway lines in Switzerland Railway lines opened in 1883 Swiss Federal Railways lines 15 kV AC railway electrification