On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 18:39:51 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

"Peter Lawrence" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:55:34 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

"Peter Masson" wrote in message
...

This seems to have been promoted by a separate company,
the 'Tooting, Merton & Wimbledon', but sold out to the
LSWR and LB&SCR jointly before opening. It originally had
two routes between Wimbledon and Tooting, the current one
used by Thameslink via Haydons Road, and one that took the
Tramlink route to Merton Park then looped via Merton Abbey
to Tooting. From Tooting the route to Ludgate Hill was the
Thameslink route via Streatham, Tulse Hill, Herne
Hill and Elephant & Castle to Ludgate Hill.

But why was the now abandoned route ever built at all?

To make a terminal loop for operational efficiency?

I doubt that - it wasn't done anywhere else. In particular, a terminal loop
with multiple stations means that passengers are unhappy if the train waits
a long time on the loop, meaning that trains would have to spend most or all
of their recovery time at the Central London terminus instead, and their
isn't room for that unless you have huge Central London termini where land
is very expensive.

The LBSC I believe ran London Bridge to London Bridge services via
Crystal Palace and via Selhurst. And the LSWR had (and their
sucessors still have) the Hounslow and Kingston loops. So both
companies had som experience of loop services.

Alternatively their aims may have been different, LSWR wanting a
connection to the City and the LBSC wishing to serve more suburbs like
Merton.
--
Peter Lawrence