27th Sep 2013 05:42
LUXEMBOURG (Alliance News) - Train passengers in the European Union are entitled to a partial refund if their journey is significantly delayed, even if the reasons are beyond the control of the rail operator, the bloc's top court ruled Thursday.
EU laws stipulate that passengers can request a 25-per-cent refund if their rail journey is delayed by more than one hour, with the reimbursement rising to 50 per cent for a delay of two hours or more.
"The regulation provides for no exception to that right to compensation where the delay is attributable to force majeure," the European Court of Justice (ECJ) wrote.
It defined force majeure as "circumstances not connected with the operation of the railway which the carrier could not avoid."
The judgement came in a case brought by the Austrian railway carrier against the country's rail network. Vienna's administrative court referred the issue to the ECJ, and must now reach its final judgement based on the Luxembourg-based judges' verdict.
The ECJ said that passengers are entitled to the compensation because, in such cases, the service "was not supplied in accordance with the transport contract."
The court also rejected an analogy to other modes of transport such as plane, boat or coach, where force majeure may invalidate compensation claims, arguing that the modes of transport were "not interchangeable."
"A railway undertaking may not include in its general terms and conditions of carriage a clause under which it is exempt from its obligation to pay compensation in the event of a delay where the delay is attributable to force majeure," the court said.
Copyright dpa
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