"The airline contracted to get her to London City. In view of the late arrival, they dropped her at a railway station where further transport is readily available."
It was almost 1am by the time the coach had got there. The last trains would have gone 2 hours before. Had they sent them there during the day, then I'd agree it was their responsibility to get home. Late at night, when no public transport is running beyond the odd night bus, then its a different story. It would have been a very expensive taxi ride back for a lot of passengers or a further night stop. Had AF run to time, they'd have had a 5 hour window to get onward public transport to final destinations.