Agreed.
But the suggestion was made up thread that there might be people present amongst the passengers who cannot cope with replanning a journey. I would contend that people genuinely in this category shouldn’t be travelling unaccompanied in the first place.
Which brings me back to my original point about the Equality Act.
I have to agree that the wheeling out of the asthmatic, diabetic, visually impaired, pregnant, intoxicated, inappropriately attired, confused, elderly, wheelchair-bound, deaf, developmentally delayed Railforums Patent Vulnerable Passenger (TM) at the mention of any sort of passenger inconvenience is intensely frustrating when there is no evidence that there was anyone present who even remotely fits the description. However, the railways do have to be mindful that there might just be such a person on the train that they're about to terminate short at an unstaffed location late at night such as, say, oh I don't know, perhaps Hemel Hempstead, and, as such, we ought to be giving some thought as to how we make sure that we don't leave them stranded for hours late at night on a freezing cold platform.
But your assertion also misses a rather pertinent point, which is that it is possible for even the most mature, savvy, clued-up adult to become vulnerable when stranded at a location that they are unfamiliar with. I've travelled widely across our great nation, but there are many areas that I am not adequately familiar with to be able to know where certain towns are in relation to each other nor how to travel between them late at night. Of course I could research them in the manner that you describe, but I think that if I'd been promised that a following train was going to stop and pick me up then I would be hanging on to wait for this. Rather like the OP, I see no reason why I should have to question this promise and would be loath to venture too far from the platform for fear that I would miss what could be my one and only chance to get away.
I will admit to having been on both ends of situations similar to this. I've been the railway staff who has reassured passengers that the train will definitely leave only to have the train finally cancelled and had to be the one to break the news to them, and I've been the passenger on the receiving end of what turned out to be empty platitudes from a TOC that ultimately left me high and dry. No-one comes out of this smelling of roses. I have no problem sympathising with the OP and with others who have faced similar situations. I don't consider myself to be especially needful in terms of my abilities and such, but I can see how a situation like this can be brought about and am therefore not comfortable making any judgements about others who get themselves on the wrong side of a TOC's mistake.
These are all only my own personal views based on my experiences as railstaff and as a rail user, and I respect that they may be at variance to the experiences of others. It is our experiences together with our views and beliefs that inform our view of the world around us, and I have no issue with you or anyone else holding a different view to my own. That said, I hope that you will forgive me when I say that I think you're being rather harsh in your assessment. That others (perhaps myself included) elect to take a different approach to a situation than the one you espouse shouldn't mark us out as lesser than others. I appreciate that you have been responding to a particular point raised earlier in the thread, and perhaps you have not been adequately clear about this in your responses so far, but some of the things you have said up to this point have been perhaps a tad inflammatory in the view of others. Frankly I'd like everyone to be clear about what they're saying so as to prevent needless misunderstandings and bickering over points of triviality so that we can move this discussion forward rather than being mired in recrimination.
Please understand that this is a post largely addressed to the forum as a whole and not to you personally. There is no question that, as I mentioned before, this incident should never have happened. But as it has, I feel that there is an interesting discussion to be had about how it could be avoided in the future, which includes how the railway deals with vulnerable passengers during times of disruption, including those who we all know ought not to be carried and yet who are as well as those who can be counted generally adept.