Zurich Trams

Zurich Trams

Trams make an important contribution to public transport in the city of Zurich in Switzerland. The tram network serves most city neighbourhoods, and is the backbone of public transport within the city, albeit supplemented by the inner sections of the Zurich S-Bahn, along with urban trolleybus and bus routes as well as two funicular railways and one rack railway. The trams operate within a fare regime provided by the cantonal public transport authority Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV), which also covers regional rail and bus services.

All trams within the city are operated by the Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ), which operates the city's urban network, but the city's tram tracks are also used by two other operations. The VBZ also operates the Glattalbahn tram services to the Glattal area to the north of the city, although in this case it does so as a sub-contractor to the Verkehrsbetriebe Glattal (VBG). Trains of the independent Forchbahn (FB) light railway also uses the city's tram lines to reach their city terminus.

Trams have been a consistent part of Zurich's streetscape since the 1880s, when the first horse tram ran. Electrified from the 1890s, they have seen off challenges including proposals to replace them by trolleybuses and by a metro or U-Bahn. With a relatively static city network from the 1930s to the late 1970s, the city's trams have been expanding again since then. Recent expansions have taken the network into the suburbs beyond the city boundary, covering areas it retreated from in the first part of the 20th century.