[ThenWhat]

[…] If we are really lucky, demand IS higher, and that leaves the short-turn option while the next car order, that they are already planning, is received.

The "short-turn option" keeps coming up in these discussions, as a solution to one problem or another. It would likely be a regular automated short turn protocol, where for example every second or every third train runs a shorter loop.

As this creates new, perhaps never tried, sequences of events for the control, a question: Have the short-term protocols been tested as part of the ongoing revenue service demo / bedding?