It's not necessarily running the whole line left handed, or reverse running the whole length SF to SJ or visa-versa. The mindset of the dispatchers comes into play with making run around moves, if a train that would normally be passed at say Redwood City (hypothetical) is falling down more than usual. Then rather than delay the following train even more, run him around using the crossovers at any of the various control points, but the station design also comes into the equation and their reluctance of running the trains on a different track. Because it creates alot of confusion among the passengers, and adds more delays if the crew waits for folks to make their way to the proper side of the train. But, the addition of the automated message boards, and the speakers at stations was also for one of these reasons if trains run on the other main to get folks notified and on the right side of the station. But even with these appliances at the dispatchers fingertips, they still elect to make the run around moves at the same places, and to keep everyone going on the same track. I could go on and on, but we'll save it for another post.
timz wrote:"many dispatchers still have the mindset of directional running like the old ABS days, which are long gone but you would never know it."
Got an example where reverse-running would help?
