Archives of Geneva public transport

The Geneva public transport Archives are accessible to the public, free of charge and by appointment, having previously made a request by e-mail or telephone. 

Our history over time

Since 1862 with the first Swiss horse-drawn tramline linking Place du Rondeau to Place de Neuve, public transport has shaped the landscape of the Canton of Geneva. Heirs to this long history, tpg have kept the archives of the various public transport companies that have succeeded each other in the territory, constituting a collection that will interest both public transport enthusiasts and researchers.

Learn more about the history of tpg

The archival processing of the funds was initiated in 2013, with the arrival of an archivist. It has made it possible to rediscover precious documents which, although they had been well preserved for more than a century, had not been valued until then. The archivist therefore began this work of recovering the backlog in parallel with raising employee awareness and implementing rules for the management of the entire documentary life cycle.

Funds / Documents available for consultation

• Collection of the General Company of Swiss Tramways (1876-1900)
• Collection of the Geneva-Veyrier Narrow Gauge Railway Company (1886-1959)
• Collection of the Geneva Narrow Gauge Railway Company (1888-1900)
• Collection of the Geneva Electric Tramway Company (1899-1976)
• Collection of the Veyrier Tramway Company in Collonges-sous-Salève (1910-1938)
• Collection of the Geneva Bus Company (1937-1949)
• Zillweger Collection: collection created between 1967-1975 and containing albums of photographs and documentation on the former Geneva tram companies.
• Durwang-Primatesta collection: more than 3,000,000 documents (photographs, travel tickets, press clippings, publications, diagrams, etc.) collected by R.-L. Durwang between 1959 and 1990 on Swiss tram companies and organized into albums. A. Primatesta continued the collection by enriching it mainly with Geneva documents.
• Monney collection: collection of postcards of Geneva tramways.
• Geneva Public Transport Fund (1977-) 
• Fund of the Provident Foundation in favor of tpg personnel (1918-)
• tpg Publicity Fund (1985-)

Our online inventory is currently under construction. Pending its publication, you can contact us for any question relating to the archives present in our collection.