There are some interesting comments in here stating that passengers don't care why their train is delayed, they just want to know when the next one is.
That actually isn't the logic used to plan the station announcements and the recent changes have been to provide more information to keep passengers better informed. If they are told their train is delayed but not why, passengers are much more likely to be annoyed and agitated, which can then be transferred to the station staff who aren't at fault and doing their best to help them.
Passengers are much more understanding when they are better informed. If they know that there were animals on the line, they can understand that the network isn't at fault and it isn't an easy/quick thing to fix. If they're just told it's delayed, they don't have the situational understanding and will more than likely presume that it's just the generic British Railway that has failed them.
I am very surprised at the constant use of "Short notice change to the timetable" as it really doesn't fit with keeping passengers informed. As someone said earlier this translates to me as "It's cancelled because it's cancelled", and doesn't provide any situational understanding.
