I fundamentally disagree on the underlined point, and regard it as a legal fiction that should long ago have been rejected with prejudice. When I purchase a ticket from a transport provider, I do so on the basis of the service offered - of which the timetable is a fundamental part - and the contract is formed as a result. I would not necessarily go so far as to suggest that failure to adhere to the timetable is a breach of that contract as I recognise that there are circumstances that may prevent them delivering that service, but do consider that the provider is under a best endeavours obligation to attempt to deliver upon that contract.
Borrowing from practice in another field, I regard mechanisms like Delay Repay or EU 261 as a no fault means of handling the consequences of the supplier's failure to fulfil the part of the contract that relates to time. The important thing in that arrangement is that it is both definite in how it applies, and that it has no concept of fault. DR is, to my mind and without comment on the specific claim mechanisms that some operators apply, a nigh on perfect application of this. It is proportionate to the underlying cost of the ticket, and has very few opportunities for an operator to decline payment.
Because my view is based on contract principles, there is a balance required. If I am unable to travel on the 17:00, and as a result choose to go to the pub for a while, my claim can only be for the difference between the time I should have completed my journey, and the time that I could have completed that journey on that ticket based on that evening's operations. So, if the 17:00 would have got me in at 18:00, and the next train is the 17:30, which is slightly faster and due in at 18:28, it's the timekeeping of the 17:30 that matters to any claim, and nothing else.
That is the economic risk that the company enters into when offering the business, and seeking to make a profit. Their job is to avoid needing to put me up.
The few times I have had to stop overnight because of disruption, I have either stayed with family or persuaded my employer to bear the cost - in all cases, with a view to having certainty about my plans rather than relying on the uncertainties of service recovery plans.