Hindsight's a wonderful thing but if Birmingham's transport planners could have their time again, would they have chosen the narrow gauge once more? Would they have saved money by choosing the standard gauge when buying trams? After all, 'specials' are always more expensive, and standard gauge trams would have had a greater carrying capacity too.
There were quite a number of 3' 6" gauge tramways in the UK (see attached list) so the equipment wasn't any more expensive - and in fact, the tramcars were lighter. Birmingham City centre streets were narrow in the tramway building era, and I'm sure that helped the planners to choose "narrow" gauge.
(Can't upload a .doc or .rtf files, so have had to paste the list below)
Cambridgeshire
Peterborough Tramways (defunct)
Cheshire
Chester Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Cornwall
Camborne and Redruth Tramways (defunct)
Cumbria
City of Carlisle Electric Tramways (defunct)
Derbyshire
Ilkeston Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Little Eaton Gangway (defunct)
Devon
Tramways in Exeter (defunct)
Torquay Tramways (defunct)
Tramways in Plymouth (defunct)
Dorset
Bournemouth Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Durham
Darlington Corporation Light Railways (defunct)
Hartlepool Electric Tramways (defunct)
Hartlepools Steam Tramways Company (defunct)
South Shields Tramways (defunct)
East Sussex
Brighton Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Hastings and District Electric Tramways (defunct)
Essex
Colchester Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Southend Pier Railway (1930-1978) (defunct)
Southend-on-Sea Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Gloucestershire
Cheltenham and District Light Railway (defunct)
Gloucester Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Monmouth Railway (defunct)
Severn and Wye Railway (defunct)
Greater Manchester
Wigan Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Herefordshire
Kington Tramway (defunct)
Kent
Dover Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Guilford Tramway (defunct)
Gravesend, Rosherville and Northfleet Tramways (defunct)
Isle of Thanet Electric Tramways and Lighting Company (defunct)
Maidstone Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Sheerness and District Tramways (defunct)
Lancashire
Blackburn and Over Darwen Tramways Company (defunct)
Norfolk
Great Yarmouth Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Norwich Electric Tramways (defunct)
North Yorkshire
Scarborough Tramways Company (defunct)
York Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Northamptonshire
Northampton Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Northampton Street Tramways (defunct)
Northumberland
Tynemouth and District Electric Traction Company (defunct)
Somerset
Taunton Tramway (defunct)
Shropshire
Bridgnorth Cliff Railway (operating)
Staffordshire
Burton and Ashby Light Railway (defunct)
Burton upon Trent Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Walsall Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Suffolk
Ipswich Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Ipswich Tramway (defunct)
Lowestoft Corporation Tramways (defunct)
West Midlands
Birmingham and Aston Tramways Company (defunct)
Birmingham Corporation Tramways (defunct)
City of Birmingham Tramways Company Ltd (defunct)
Coventry Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Dudley and Stourbridge Steam Tramways Company (defunct)
Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company (defunct)
Kinver Light Railway (defunct)
South Staffordshire Tramways Company (defunct)
Wolverhampton Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Wolverhampton District Electric Tramways Company (defunct)
West Sussex
Brighton and Shoreham Tramways (defunct)
West Yorkshire
Halifax Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Wiltshire
Swindon Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Worcestershire
Kidderminster and Stourport Electric Tramway Company (defunct)
Worcester Electric Traction Company (defunct)
Scotland
Cruden Bay Hotel Tramway (defunct)
Dunfermline and District Tramways (defunct)
Kirkcaldy Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Perth and District Tramways (defunct)
Perth Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Rothesay and Ettrick Bay Light Railway (defunct)
Wemyss and District Tramways Company (defunct)
Wales
Aberdare Urban District Council Tramways (defunct)
Bryn Oer Tramway (defunct)
Great Orme Tramway (operating)
Hay Railway (defunct)
Kington Tramway (defunct)
Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway (defunct)
Merthyr Tydfil Electric Tramways (defunct)
Monmouth Railway (defunct)
Nantlle Railway (defunct)
Newport Corporation Tramways (defunct)
Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley Tramway (defunct)
Pontypridd Urban District Council Tramways (defunct)
Poole and District Electric Tramways (defunct)
Pwllheli and Llanbedrog Tramway (defunct)
Swansea Constitution Hill Incline Tramway (defunct)
Wrexham and District Electric Tramways (defunct)