[number6]

German trains are evaluated on their timelines. If a train is more then an hour delayed passengers get their money back. So every train that runs into a high delayed is marked as "Cancelled" and if followed by an "Ersatzzug" that is curiously similar to the canceled train, because if the train is cancelled, the passengers don't get their money back if a Ersatz is followed promptly

[the_third_wave]

It doesn't work that way. Travellers are entitled to 25% restitution if they arrive at their destination station between 1 and 2 hours later than planned, 50% reduction if delayed by more than 2 hours. It does not matter how they arrive there, either using their originally scheduled services or some alternative ("ersatz"), it is the time of arrival that matters.

BYW, this is not just in Germany, the rule goes for many countries in the EU.

Source: been there, done that (too) many times.