On Tue, Apr 05, 2011 at 03:11:43AM -0700, Neil Williams wrote:

FWIW, I do not claim Delay Repay money from the railway in an event
causing delay that is beyond its control, such as the one this thread
is discussing; that would seem unreasonable to me.

Why? If I don't supply a service that someone has paid me for, then no
matter how good my excuse I'd expect them to kick up a stink and I'd
consider them well within their rights to demand a refund. And if I
only partially deliver on my promise (by, for example, being late) I
would pay at least a partial refund without quibbling.

But it does seem
reasonable to me that regardless of the cause of the delay the railway
should assist the passengers and provide them information, even if
that information is "we haven't forgotten you, but by the way there is
no information". It might similarly mean that the railway isn't in a
position to pay for hotel accommodation

Of course they're in a position to pay for hotel accommodation if their
failure to run a train means that passengers can't get to their
destination. If they're not in a position to pay a hotel bill, then
they're also not in a position to pay for maintenance on their trains,
and that worries me a lot.

Again, if my failure (no matter how good my excuse - like if I can't
return something I borrowed because some chav stole it) makes others
incur costs (the cost of replacing whatever it was that I borrowed)
then I would expect to at least re-pay their reasonable expenses, if
not pay for them up front.

--
David Cantrell | Bourgeois reactionary pig

For every vengeance, there is an equal and opposite revengeance.
-- Cartoon Law X