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TheOneKEA · January 26th 04, 06:43 PM posted to uk.transport.london

K wrote in message . ..
On 25 Jan 2004 11:04:05 -0800, (TheOneKEA) wrote:

"John Rowland" wrote in message ...
"Mark Brader" wrote in message
...

The lines swap vertically between
Chancery Lane and St Pauls, IIRC.
What is the reason for this?

This one *is* due to a narrow street above.

I don't understand, since the do-si-do clearly occupies a larger footprint
than would two tunnels running above each other.

I think it's the cathedral and the burial sites surrounding it - I
think the folks who built the original Great Central London Railway
stacked the tunnels because the authorities at St. Paul were afraid
that the digging might disturb or destroy the various gravesites
around the cathedral.

So why swap the lines over? This would cause more disruption, surely?

Who knows what the GCLR engineers were thinking, honestly - I guess
they were constrained by the fear that digging tunnels under London
would cause the city to start collapsing or something.

Either way, it's not a truly bad setup - just odd.

Brad