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Paul Terry · February 24th 07, 07:12 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In message m,
writes

The up line presumably being Kingston to Wimbledon

Yes.

Did the rearrangement happen when the Wimbledon flyover was built

No, the Wimbledon flyover came much later (1936, I think).

From the late 19th-century until 1936 the lines were paired by direction
all the way to Waterloo, causing enormous problems because the slow
services and fast services had to cross on the level at Waterloo station
throat to get to the right set of platforms.

The Wimbledon flyover solved this problem by getting the fast (up and
down) services onto one adjacent pair of tracks and the slow (up and
down) services onto the other adjacent pair without a crossing on the
level, in advance of the terminus. A long way in advance, of course, but
I guess it was the most practical and cost-effective place to make the
switch in pairing.
--
Paul Terry