Â鶹APP

The former tram depot of the Strassenbahn Zürich-Höngg at Wartau in Zurich, Switzerland. Now used as a store and workshop by the Zurich Tram Museum photo by Chris j wood

Top 10 Facts about Zurich Tram Museum

The Zurich Tram Museum is a transport museum in the Swiss city of Zurich, specialising in the history of the Zürich tram system. The main museum site is located at the former tram depot, Tramdepot Burgwies. The museum also maintains a workshop at the much smaller former tram depot of Wartau.

The tram museum is run by an association, the Verein Tram Museum Zurich, which has some 500 members, and is responsible for looking after the exhibits of the museum. The tram cars remain in the ownership of the Verkehrsbetriebe Zurich, the city-owned operator of the Zurich tram system. 

Let’s take a look at some of the top facts about it;

1.The Zurich Tram Museum was founded in 1967

Zurich Tram Museum Photo by Chris j wood

The Zurich Tram Museum was founded in 1967, and at first it used various borrowed locations to store and work on its exhibits. In 1989 it took over the tiny former Strassenbahn Zurich–Hongg tram depot at Wartau.

The depot had been out of use as a tram depot since the 1923 acquisition of the StZH by the city, and opened its first public museum there. The new museum was just big enough to hold five preserved trams. 

2.The museum has held several tram parades through the city centre

In May 2007, the museum moved to the significantly larger former tram depot at Burgwies, although Wartau has been retained as a workshop and store. On 26 May 2007, twelve heritage trams each ran from a different Zurich terminus, converging into a parade along the Limmatquai.

At the end of the parade, they ran to the new museum at Burgwies.On 21 May 2017, to celebrate both the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the tram museum, and the tenth anniversary of its move to Burgweis, another tram parade was held through the city centre.

3.The main museum site at Burgwies is open to the public on several days a week

The main museum site at Burgwies is open to the public on several days a week, with exact opening hours varying by day of the week and season of the year. The museum is located by the Bergweis tram stop, on tram route 11 at the boundary of the city’s Weinegg and Hirslanden quarters. The museum also runs an occasional historic tram service between Burgwies and the city centre, billed as tram route 21.

Route 21 operates on both days of the last weekend of each month, providing a half-hourly frequency in summer and an hourly frequency in winter, during museum opening hours.The site at Wartau is located on tram route 13 in the Hongg quarter, but is not normally open to the public.

4.The museum’s collection includes about 20 preserved tram cars

The store and workshop of the Zurich Tram Museum Photo by Chris j wood

The museum’s collection includes about 20 preserved tram cars, the majority of which are operational. In addition to cars from Zurich’s city owned fleet, the collection includes cars from the private companies that operated routes around Zurich in the early days.

Cars from the city fleet demonstrate changes in design over time, from cars very similar to these early private sector vehicles, through the 1930s Elefant bogie cars and 1940s Swiss Standard Tram cars, to trams recently retired.

5.The museum also includes a mezzanine level with smaller exhibits

The museum also includes a mezzanine level with smaller exhibits. These include a model tramway layout illustrating the city’s street scene over the years, together with a selection of documents and photographs. The museum shop stocks a selection of books, postcards, models and souvenirs.

The museum building, the former Tramdepot Burgwies, is also a significant exhibit in its own right, and is shared with a branch of the Migros supermarket chain. The building is inscribed on the Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National Significance. 

6.The oldest vehicle, built in 1897, runs on the Museum’s own line 21

Elefant motor tram 321 hauling trailer 626 on museum tram route 21 at Burgwies tram stop on Forchstrasse, just outside the gates of the Zurich Tram Museum Photo by Chris j wood

Trams have a long-standing tradition in Zurich. At the Tram Museum, tram enthusiasts can gain an insight into the history of this urban form of transportation. Original vehicles dating from 1897 to 1968, uniforms, ticket machines, a large model tram layout, and the Cobralino children’s tram are just some of the museum’s highlights.

The oldest vehicle, built in 1897, runs on the Museum’s own line 21. This route was specially added to the network of the Zurich Transportation System (VBZ) and operates between the Tram Museum and the city center. 

7.The Zurich Tram Museum offers a great rainy day activity for kids

The Zurich Tram Museum offers a great rainy day activity for kids. The museum is essentially a large garage bay that holds several historical models of Zurich’s trams. As soon as you enter the museum, your child is given a ticket that they can validate in a machine.

Then you can make your rounds getting in and looking at all the old Zurich trams.There is a mock-up tram that is kid’s sized that they can steer back and forth along a track. There is even a large toy train track set up that the kids can play with. 

8.Most of the vehicles are still capable of working, and operated from time

Zurich Tram Museum Photo by Chris j wood

Most of the vehicles are still capable of working, and operated from time to time on route 21 between Burgwies and the city centre, manned by volunteer crews in historic uniforms. There are displays of uniforms and ticket machines and a large model layout.

The emphasis throughout is on the social impact of the tram systems and the consequences of the increased mobility they brought to Zurich’s citizens.It is one of the most loved activity in Zurich and Switzerland as a country. 

9.There are several hotels and restaurants near it

There are several hotels and restaurants near it including; HITrental Kreuzplatz Apartments (0.24 mi), Aparthotel Familie Hugenschmidt (0.68 mi), The Dolder Grand (1.03 mi) Alma Hotel (1.02 mi) and B&B Villa Feldpausch (0.44 mi). 

The restaurants include; Restaurant Burgwies (0.05 mi) Vongole’s Kitchen (0.12 mi) Marcellino Pane e Vino (0.32 mi), Grand’in Osteria (0.19 mi), Cafe Restaurant Wilder Mann (0.28 mi). 

10.The museum is open on different days at specific times

The museum is open on different days at specific times. It is open on Saturday, sunday, Monday and Wednesday from 1pm to 6pm. The prices also vary for example Regulars pay CHF 12,Concessions pay CHF 8 and Children (6 – 16) pay CHF 6.

And getting there is half the fun: on your way to the Tram Museum you can experience your grandparents’ mobility on the Museum Line along the Bahnhofstrasse and Limmatquai to Burgwies, with rolling stock from the Museum’s collection! Young and old will enjoy the model tramway with its long-vanished specimens