The amount of Metro VEP workings is what finally led to the VOPs being created.
VOPs - I remember them as a concept but as I said, I rarely visited the "Central Division" in the 1990s so don't think I ever saw one. I think I travelled on a COP though around 2003, which fulfilled a similar role on the Coastway.
There were also a few metro CIGs and VEPs in 1982, according to the CWN I have, working early peak or shoulder-peak services (e.g. 1542 LBG-LBG circular 4VEP; or 1714 Victoria to Coulsdon North VEP/CIG), but these were presumably for operational convenience. They then went on to form a peak mainline working (the above formed the 1710 to Reigate and 1838 to Brighton respectively) so presumably doing a suburban first minimised conflicts.
They must’ve or either the timetabling nowadays is slightly strange
Between CLJ-VIC it’s take 4-5 mins but the timetable leaves a good 8-10 minutes between them although the trains can complete it in half the time
Which leaves many trains (according to timetable) arriving early than planned
Probably adds a few minutes on to the stopping service
How long does the service take to get from Clapham to Victoria? In the 1980s?
From the 1982 timetable on timetableworld.com, a sample service:
Victoria 0949, Clapham 0954, Wandsworth Common 0957, Balham 0959, Streatham Common 1003, Norbury 1005, Thornton Heath 1008, Selhurst 1010, East Croydon arr. 1014. This was part of the standard-pattern half-hourly off-peak service.
The time penalty for stopping didn't seem great in those days. Fast Victoria-Clapham-East Croydon services did it in 16, the stopper in 25 with 6 extra stops, so 1.5 min penalty per stop. I recall the Portsmouth Direct had that kind of penalty too back in the day (e.g. 13 min non-stop, 19 min all-stations Haslemere-Guildford).
Those trains may not have stopped at Wandsworth Common or Battersea Park, because there aren’t really any other ways to pick up slack on the 28 min journey time from VIC to SRS.
They skipped Battersea Park (only), but still did Selhurst in 21 mins (see above), every half hour during the day. Battersea Park looked like it had just a one minute time penalty, so if there were any all stations services (haven't checked), they could presumably have done it in 22.
Ah, timetables ain't what they used to be