Tag tram tracks with name=*, ref=* - or use Relation:route?

As a related question to Does the name tag make sense for a tram track?:

Is it a good idea at all to use name=* and especially ref=* on tram tracks?

Usually (at least in Germany where I live) tram tracks themselves do not have names or numbers -- only the tram lines which run over them do. People don't say "that is the tram track 632", they say "tram 632 runs there".

At present the wiki for railway=tram recommends to use name=/ref= for the line name/reference.

It seems to me that name (if applicable) and number of a tram line are better mapped using the relation "route" (see Relation:route).

• It is the established mechanism for mapping public transport lines (I believe)
• It makes it easier to find the complete extent of a line - if you use name=* on the track, software must piece together all tracks with the same name to find the line (and what about misspelled names?)
• There may be two different lines with the same name (e.g. in neighbouring cities); these can only be kept distinct using relations
• Commonly more than one line runs on a single track - there's no way to tag this using name=*/ref=*.

So wouldn't it be better to change the wiki so it discourages use of name=*/ref=* for tram tracks, and recommends relations instead?

Of course, if a certain track itself is known by a name, that would be ok to tag as such.

Proposed wording:

To tag which tram lines run over the tag, use a Relation:route.

name=* and ref=* should only be used if the track itself has a name or a designation, independent of the tram lines running over it (which is relatively uncommon, at least in most parts of Europe).