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.
Most 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). The independent Forchbahn (FB) operates light railway services on a line to the east of the city that use the city's tram lines to reach their city terminus. Whilst the Glattalbahn services use similar vehicles to the city trams and are essentially operated as extensions to the city's network, the Forchbahn services are considered to be part of the S-Bahn and only serve selected stops within the city.
Zurich's tram network is built to metre gauge and is mostly street based, with significant sections where trams run in unrestricted traffic lanes. In the city centre the tram tracks run through largely pedestrianised streets, and in one place in the suburbs the trams use a tunnel originally constructed for a never completed U-Bahn system. Outside the city limits, the Glattalbahn and Forchbahn use largely segregated routes.
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Various projects to introduce trams to Zurich were proposed from the 1860s onwards. It was not until 1882, however, that the first tram operated in the city. In the early years, trams were operated by private companies. These were acquired by the municipal tramway operator, StStZ, between 1896 and 1931 and integrated into a single network. These companies are summarised in the table below. StStZ also added many lines.
The table also includes companies whose lines lie entirely outside the current city boundaries and which were never absorbed by StStZ, but which do or did at some point have physical connections to the city system. These are shown in italic type.
Tram companies which are still operating as such are shown in bold type.
| Company | Abbreviation | From | Until | Absorbed by | Notes |
| Zürcher Strassenbahn Gesellschaft | ZStG | 1882 | 1896 | StStZ | horse trams, standard gauge |
| Elektrische Strassenbahn Zürich | EStZ | 1894 | 1896 | StStZ | |
| Zentrale Zürichbergbahn Zürich | ZZB | 1895 | 1905 | StStZ | |
| Städtische Strassenbahn Zürich | StStZ | 1896 | renamed VBZ in 1950 | owned by city of Zürich | |
| Strassenbahn Zürich-Oerlikon-Seebach | ZOeS | 1897 | 1931 | StStZ | |
| Industriequartier-Strassenbahn Zürich | ISZ | 1898 | 1902 | StStZ | |
| Strassenbahn Zürich-Höngg | StZH | 1898 | 1923 | StStZ | |
| Dolder tram | 1899 | 1930 | (closed) | served Dolder Grand Hotel, no track connection to other lines ever existed. see also Dolderbahn | |
| Limmattal-Strassenbahn | LSB | 1900 | 1931 | StStZ | |
| Bremgarten Dietikon | BD | 1902 | 2000 | BDWM | The section between Bremgarten West and Wohlen was originally a standard gauge railway. It was converted to mixed gauge and taken over by BD in 1912 |
| Albisgütli-Bahn | AGB | 1907 | 1925 | StStZ | |
| Wetzikon-Meilen-Bahn | WMB | 1909 | 1950 | (closed) | |
| Uster-Oetwil-Bahn | UOeB | 1909 | 1949 | (closed) | |
| Forchbahn | FB | 1912 | |||
| Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich | VBZ | 1950 | renamed from StStZ in 1950, owned by city of Zürich | ||
| Bremgarten Dietikon Wohlen Meisterschwanden | BDWM | 2000 | created by amalgamation of BD with the bus operator WM |
By the mid 1930s, the city operator, StStZ, had a dense network of tramlines serving most city neighbourhoods.
Modernisation began in the late 1930s with the introduction of the Swiss Standard Tram.
At various points, the tram system was threatened by plans to partly replace it with trolleybuses, a pre-metro and a full scale underground. The tram system survived these threats.
Zürich's tram network has seen relatively few line closures. Besides some very short sections and realignments, the lines closed are:
From the 1980s onwards, the system was increasingly acclaimed for its success in maintaining a high share of the modal split. The key to success came to be known as the Zürich model and other cities attempted to emulate it. In this way, Zürich is considered to have played an instrumental part in bringing about a worldwide tram renaissance.
An extension named Tram Zürich West, from Escher-Wyss-Platz to Bahnhof Altstetten Nord, was opened in December 2011. The resulting reorganisation of routes resulted in a the creation of a new route 7 from Hauptbahnhof to Werdhölzli via Escher-Wyss-Platz, and the diversion of route 4, which had previously served Werdhölzli, to Altstetten.
The Zurich Tram Museum, located at the former tram depot at Burgwies on tram route 11, preserves many examples of Zurich's former tramcar fleet, along with other related exhibits.
The following tram routes make up the urban and Glattalbahn route network:
With the exception of routes 10, 11 and 12, these routes are all operated by the VBZ on its own behalf and over its own tracks.
Route 10 is operated by the VBZ on behalf of the VBG, using VBZ owned tracks as far as Oerlikon and VBG owned tracks thereafter. Route 11 is operated by the VBZ on its own behalf, using VBZ owned tracks as far as Oerlikon and VBG owned tracks thereafter. Route 12 is operated by the VBZ on behalf of the VBG, using VBG owned tracks throughout. In normal circumstances, trams painted in the distinctive white VBG colour scheme are used on routes 10 and 12, whilst 11 uses trams in Zurich's traditional blue and white scheme.
In the Limmattal, between Bahnhof Altstetten and Bahnhof Killwangen-Spreitenbach, a new light rail service (compatible to the Zürich Tram Network and therefore meter gauge) named Limmattalbahn is in planning and should be partially opened by 2020. Since this line will stretch out to the Kanton Aargau, there is the possibility of two referendums against the project.
Furthermore, there are plans for numerous other extensions to be built up to 2025, notably over the Hardbrücke between Hardplatz and the new Tram Zürich West branch at Schiffbau.
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