ZURICH - A city hearing on tram extensions and track renewals toward Oerlikon and the north filled a hall with neighbours, shopkeepers and VBZ planners. Capacity on the existing lines is the official reason. Years of diversions are the unofficial fear.
Retailers around the Schaffhauserstrasse said they had already lived through one long construction season. Planners said the alternative was trams that do not run to timetable in 2030.
Housing sits under the tracks
Several speakers tied the tram file to flats. Density near stops only works if the stops still move. Zurich's housing shortage is a transport story whether the housing office says so or not.