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A crossover is a pair of switches that connects two parallel rail tracks, allowing a train on one track to cross over to the other. When two crossovers are present in opposite directions, in the shape of the letter X, the four-switch configuration is called a scissors crossover, double crossover or diamond crossover.
In a setup where each of the two tracks normally carries trains of only one direction, the crossover can be used either to wrong-rail around an obstruction or to reverse direction. The crossover can also join two tracks of the same direction, possibly a pair of local and express tracks, and allow trains to switch from one to the other.
On a crowded system, the use of crossovers or switches in general will reduce throughput, as the switches must be changed for each train. For this reason, on some high-capacity rapid transit systems, crossovers between local and express tracks are not used during normal rush hour service, and service patterns are planned around the designs of the usually flying junctions at each end of the local-express line.
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