[BBKing]

I'm always slightly annoyed by this kind of story, mainly because they never understand the issues correctly - prices are high because the train company doesn't want you to buy this ticket, they want you to buy an advanced ticket valid only on a certain train, which allows them to use yield management software to maximise occupancy and revenue per seat. This is exactly what airlines do, of course - the idea came directly from airlines and the first people to use it were the French with the TGV, which was designed to compete and win against airlines, which it did. Try rocking up an hour before departure at Heathrow and see what the prices are like - a few years ago a mate and myself flew to Shannon on Aer Lingus - I booked early enough to get a reasonably cheap (sub-£100) economy ticket, he got back from working abroad and had to take the cheapest one available, which was a £400 First Class one.

What's been lost is the freedom to turn up when you want and get the next train for a reasonable price, which I used to do all the time. This probably explains why I only ever get the train within London, on business or on Chiltern to Birmingham, which has direct competition resulting in lower fares, for a slightly longer journey. If there was more competition fares would be lower elsewhere, but there's no real prospect of that on most lines.