To get a detailed accurate picture of what has survived and what has closed you need to go through these lists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_town_tramway_systems_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_town_tramway_systems_in_Europe

In most cases the surviving systems are shaded or bolded to make it easier to get an overview.

The other thing to bear in mind is that many cities were not lost to electric traction. As the trolleybus came into its own technologically after the 1940s, many tramway systems were replaced by trolleybus systems more attuned to the level of demand. Many of these have survived and thrived to the present time, but many others were absolutely slaughtered - in Germany and France in particular, where pressure from industry (particularly the automotive) led to extensive dieselisation of city transit.

Germany was behind the push that led to the EU encouraging a preference for diesel cars many years ago, only for it to later discover that the environmental benefits were actually disbenefits, petrol engines also having been cleaned up a lot in the intervening time. However, Germany is not giving up and while some countries are now leading a push away from diesel (notably UK and France), Germany has dug its heels in to protect its commercial interests as a major exporter:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-23/merkel-ally-says-germany-has-vital-interest-in-diesel-survival https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-23/merkel-ally-says-germany-has-vital-interest-in-diesel-survival

(The article fails to mention also the health issue from particulates.)

This is reflected also in the bus industry where the leading German manufacturers MAN and Mercedes have been the reluctant last to belatedly join the now-widespread international development of autonomous electric buses. Of the German car manufacturers, only BMW has been undertaking any serious development towards electricification. There is a lot of money tied up in diesel for the German economy and they're not going to let it slip without a fight. Tram systems in Germany seem to be surviving this on a stable plateau, but trolleybuses weren't so lucky.

Tony P

---InTramsDownUnder@..., <transitconsult@...> wrote :

Yes, thanks Richard. Got mixed up – I think Liege-Seraing is across the border in Belgium.

Regards

Dudley