Has anyone got any background into why the route for phase 1 of Nottingham tram was chosen particularly the route south of Wilkinson Street. Do any parts of this section follow any former railway lines?
How many redevelopment/property demolitions and road layout changes were required?
Most modern light rail UK systems tend to follow former/existing rail formations, which NET phase 1 does north of Wilkinson Street.
I suspect it was taken on using roads that had capacity to accommodate the tram's route. Hence the splitting of the route through Hyson Green - the Victorian streets would not be able to accommodate a double tracked system should anything go wrong.
As for connectivity, I will speak speculatively here, NET passes from Wilkinson St. to Hyson Green which is a) an area of deprivation that needed investment so a tramlink would encourage more commuters to move here who work in the city, and also is an area where many students live who attend Trent uni so a big market. It then passes to one of the largest parks/public event spaces in the city - the Forest and then on to Trent uni and city centre. Connecting to the station is logical. I suspect that there was negotiation between the university and the city in terms of picking the route. I suspect also that a desire to encourage re-development of Hyson Green played a part. It is not the area of deprivation that it once was since the tram has connected it to the city. (This being said, it is still an area of substantial deprivation - I guess it will take many years to turn this tide).
As for South of the City (phase 2), the route to Clifton takes an approximate alignment with the old GC which is an effective re-use of an old trackbed. The Beeston extension really doesn't make a lot of sense to me aside from running the route down roads with large capacity. But effectively very few people travel between Meadows Way West and NG2. The tram runs alongside the A52 outside the uni and along an area that was formerly grassland - this is useful as it becomes quasi-light rail here.
If I had a go at planning the route myself, I would run from QMC to the station via Castle Boulevard. Maybe even closing Castle Boulevard as a public thoroughfare and making it tram only. Then have a connection through the station to the south of the city. But, what's done is done now!