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We are planning to travel to Scotland from Manchester and looking at the prices it is way cheaper to get flight tickets than trains, and it is, even more, cheaper than from London.

Why train tickets are so expensive?

For example,
on the 6th of February, 2019 a return ticket from Manchester to Aberdeen for 23-24 March costs £133,30.

OFF-PEAK RETURN

Any off-peak train. Return within 1 month.

1 Adult @ £133.30

Flights between Manchester and Aberdeen today for that weekend varies between 30-66 Pounds. Flying is also faster including check-in times.

Your £133 train ticket isn't tied to a specific connection like your cheap plane ticket is. For some random dates in April I was offered a return for £52 (two singles at £25 and £27 each). These tickets are sold out for your dates, so you're only offered the more expensive semi-flexible tickets.

Always keep in mind the varying conditions when comparing prices.

Europe-wise train tickets are one of the most expensive in the UK, this image below from The Telegraph is quoted a lot of times in the press and on social media trying to show the disparity with other European countries for:

While it does include a lot of cherry-picking, and doesn't really address why train fares are so expensive (which is still up to debate both by politicians and the general public), it does show that high rail prices are something that you can expect in the UK. Also prices are usually increasing each year as well usually with higher rates than inflation.

Air travel in comparison, especially on low cost airlines is still cheap, it's much more common that low and ultra-low-cost airlines like RyanAir or WizzAir will try to charge you on the extras instead of the plain ticket prices. Also don't forget that although the rail system in the UK is privatised there's not really many competition between the rail companies, as each of them only serves part of the country - there's only a handful routes where you actually have the option to pick between multiple train companies - meaning there's also less of a competition between them to decrease prices. Flight companies however do operate on the same route - meaning there's more competition between them that can affect their prices.

However there are some ways you might be able to get cheaper rail fares.

Use routes that are served by one specific train company

Railway in the UK is privatised and there are multiple train companies operating in the country on a franchise basis. Some companies are only providing train travel on a small part of the country, but some others like Virgin, LNER or CrossCountry operate long-distance trains as well.

When checking routes if you are lucky enough that your trip is served by only one company, then you might be lucky, as they usually have advance tickets for sale. However if the route is served by multiple companies (as you have to switch trains at some point) the price will be dependent whether both of the sections have a cheaper advance ticket, or not.

For example a trip from London to Aberdeen would only include travel on LNER trains - meaning LNER alone could give you a bargain price on an advance off-peak single ticket. However a trip from Manchester to Aberdeen includes multiple companies - likely the Transpennine Express from Manchester to Glasgow, then either CrossCountry or ScotRail to Aberdeen. It's possible in this case that only the section from Manchester to Glasgow is on sale, or only the section from Glasgow to Aberdeen is on sale. It's also possible that there's a cheaper ticket if you wait a few hours in Glasgow - but these options will likely not show up on the booking page.

Also note that although you can book tickets on any train company's website (even for routes that are not served by them) when you have a "single company route" booking on that particular company's website might also get you some extra benefits. For example there's free wifi on LNER trains if you book the ticket on the LNER site, otherwise it's around £3

Book in advance

Also book off-peak or super-off-peak tickets, and book non-refundable tickets that are only valid to one specific train. Similarly to plane tickets the more flexible they are the more expensive they get. Also similarly to them the prices of advance rail tickets might also go both up and down, so it might not always be worth booking too far in advance.

Advance tickets might not always be available - some train companies don't sell them for example at all, as they only have plain peak and off-peak tickets. This can be relevant on routes which are only served by changing trains and train companies.

If there are advanced tickets, for both the outward and return journey then they can be cheaper than an anytime return ticket.

Use railcards

Railcards will give you 1/3 off the price of off-peak tickets. For long distances if you travel with someone a two-together railcard might sometimes make the trip cheaper than the cost of the railcard itself (£30, and you can use the railcard for subsequent travels in the year as well).

If you're travelling alone or in a group you might be able to find other railcards that can help you drive the cost down, especially if you're either a Senior, or younger than 30 years old.

Don't forget that air travel is usually not that simple

Because:

• Airports are usually not centrally located, and the transfer from the airport to the city can easily add a lot to the cost of the ticket. Trains usually depart and arrive to the city centre. The transfer ticket from the airport to the city can easily get into the £10-£20 range in some locations, especially London.




• Usually only small cabin bags are included in the air fare (and in case of RyanAir they are now only allowing really-really small bags without paying extra). Any additional bags need to be bought separately - which can add to the total cost of your trip. Also no liquids in bottles measuring more than 100ml, unless you pay extra for putting your bags in the hold. On trains both the baggage allowance and what you can bring onboard is much more relaxed.




• The transfer, check-in, security and baggage reclaim can actually take a substantial time, which might easily eat away a lot of the time gained by the shorter fare time.

Personal

I usually do the Edinburgh-London trip, and usually I have a choice between using an LNER train to London or by finding some cheap tickets from
Edinburgh Airport to London Stansted.

I can usually find train tickets in the £60-£120 price range each way, while air fares are usually between £20-£100. When I can find something in the £20-40 range I usually opt for that, but above it, the extra hassle with baggage (£10-£15), airport transfer (£10-£20) and security means I am usually better off with a £80-£100 train ticket.

Time wise they are also comparable: although the plane flight only takes an hour, I also have to get to and from the airport which can take up to an hour in both Edinburgh and London, and there's still check-in, security, and baggage reclaim, which can easily add to a total of 4 hours, which is almost the same as the the 4.5 hours trip for the train - and on the train there's at least free wifi.

And both of them are usually delayed as well.

One of the big differences between UK and EU rail pricing, is that the UK uses the supply and demand and Willingness To Pay (WTP) pricing model similar to that used by airlines, while many EU train services use a much simpler €/km pricing model.

This way, in the UK you get odd things like a short rail journey costing (say) £9.40 single and just £9.60 return; and you get outlandishly high fares for last minute travel on the next train, but reasonably good discounts if you plan your journey weeks in advance and pay for a specific off-peak departure (bit like an airline in that respect).

As for air travel, passengers across Europe have become accustomed to the business model of low-cost airlines, and have the expectation of being able to fly many hundreds of km for next to no money, so long as they are prepared put up with all the rules and regulations of the airlines and the airports. See for example: this story from early 2016

Everybody likes nonstops. Partly, the price reflects the number of seat changes, and concomitant waits. Because those break your workflow/experience. Consider train, 3 seat changes with a luscious uninterrupted 4.5hr to focus on your choice of activity:

• seat: local transit to train station


• seat: on train


• seat: local transit to destination

Versus airline, a hot mess of seat changes and required tasks, all short segments, none longer than an hour.

• seat: local transit to train station


• seat: airport connector


• "seat": queue for airport security, take shoes off, laptop in tray, all that jazz


• seat: in airport waiting hall


• seat: in actual airplane


• "seat": at baggage claim, what fun


• seat: airport connector


• seat: local transit to destination

Look at all the buzz. Always active, always doing something, another task you're obliged to do to keep your journey moving, it's hours and hours of "hurry up and wait".

Now maybe you are happy for the task list, if so, there's your choice. But obviously a lot of people think different, because the train is able to command those prices. It's free market, on a 400 seat train, prices are set by the 400th highest bidder.

In a free market like in the UK, prices are generally governed by demand and supply and customers Willingness To Pay (WTP). Pricing and Analytics is big business with advanced data crunching and thousands of variables.

It’s as simple as that. So far as consumers are willing to pay a certain price there is little motivation to reduce it.

If and when customers are unwilling to pay the price, the price will drop to the point where they are willing to pay for the goods or service. At that point if the price is such that the company’s costs are exceeding its income, the company either go bust or finds cost cutting measures and efficiencies or sometimes subsidized by government.

Bottom line the prices are high because customers still purchase. Although they both transport people, airlines and trains are not perfect competitors. Each has peculiarities that appeal to a segment of the consumer base at a particular price point.