DB delay compensation "Act of God"

[peteb]

My son travelled from The Netherlands to Salzburg last month. His train was heavily delayed owing to discovery of a UXB. (Unexploded Bomb).

He's just received a letter from DB concerning his request for compensation for the delay, rejecting compensation as apparently, according to DB, UXB's are an "Act of God"!!!

I know the allies dropped a lot of ordnance on Germany during the twentieth century but this is the first I've heard of divine intervention!

Seriously, DB can't reasonably expect to foresee where incidents of this type will occur, however the wording of their letter is somewhat unfortunate.......

 

[Flying Snail]

Well for a period the failed Austrian painter was their god and it was ultimately his doing...

Unlike in Britain where the railways are unfairly expected to compensate no matter the cause in the rest of Europe railways, as is the case with airlines, are only required to pay when the cause of delay is something within their control.

 

[StephenHunter]

Pretty common for that stuff to turn up in Germany during construction works; in Munich construction workers in December 2021 managed to set one off doing works at the Hauptbahnhof, with four injuries.

 

[rvdborgt]

Unlike in Britain where the railways are unfairly expected to compensate no matter the cause in the rest of Europe railways, as is the case with airlines, are only required to pay when the cause of delay is something within their control.

BTW this is only fairly recent. Until a few years ago there was no exception in the EU, but the railways used their lobby power to introduce force majeure as an exception in the recast rail passengers' rights regulation.

 

[MarcVD]

”Act of God” is a kind of legal term to name events that nobody can be held responsible for.

 

[StephenHunter]

BTW this is only fairly recent. Until a few years ago there was no exception in the EU, but the railways used their lobby power to introduce force majeure as an exception in the recast rail passengers' rights regulation.

In this case, more like US Army Air Force Major, I would say.

 

[AdamWW]

BTW this is only fairly recent. Until a few years ago there was no exception in the EU, but the railways used their lobby power to introduce force majeure as an exception in the recast rail passengers' rights regulation.

Does this exempt them even from having to do anything (i.e. can they just refund the ticket and not attempt to get you where you're going) or is it like with airlines where as I understand it, it's just compensation that depends on whether the delay was within the airline's control or not?

And is it only force majeure as an exception on the railways? I thought that only applied to a limited set of circumstances, not just anything that the operator can't be blamed for.

 

[rvdborgt]

Does this exempt them even from having to do anything (i.e. can they just refund the ticket and not attempt to get you where you're going) or is it like with airlines where as I understand it, it's just compensation that depends on whether the delay was within the airline's control or not?

Compensation is exempt, and overnight accommodation is then limited to 3 nights. Assistance to complete your journey remains mandatory.

And is it only force majeure as an exception on the railways? I thought that only applied to a limited set of circumstances, not just anything that the operator can't be blamed for.

It's indeed a limited set of circumstances. See articles 18, 19 and 20 in Regulation 2021/782. E.g. strike of the operator's personnel is not exempted.