I suspect this is just about moving the absolute minimum number of sets of points, but very interesting diversion it makes for!
Nah these kinds of timetable amendments will be being created by Control functions rather than Planning functions.
I remember in BR days, even RT days when we had bad snow, and its not that frequent, point use was kept to the very minimum, so in my area we would have simply run Up and Down Main with a slow and a fast, trains off the branch would have gone into the bay platform and turned round, snowmen would ensure or try to ensure the points to and from the carriage sidings worked, in an emergency would clear others if needed.
Passengers also knew the issues and said fair enough, we have a service, maybe not as frequent, but we understand, now they all jump up and down coplain on Twitter that the railway cant cope with snow / ice, the TOC responds by trying to run more trains, and it all falls apart.
In bad weather, bring in the revised timetable, ignore the moaners, and just stick to it for as long as it takes, travellers seem far more impatient now then ever, they have no thought for staff trying to get to work at 3am in the morning, or trying to get home at that time, all they want is their normal train and normal seat, and wo betide the TOC if it does not run !
Maybe the Train Companies should suspend the twitter accounts in such events !
