[Carruthers]

I don't think that I am being controversial when I say that rail travel in the UK is often perceived as complex and expensive.
An in depth knowledge of the byzantine ticketing system is a helpful starting point for anyone wishing to undertake a railway journey.
Very often tickets are beset by all manner of terms and conditions which seem to have been imposed with the sole intention of catching out the unwary traveller.
This usually results in the full fare for the journey being imposed in addition to the fare already paid.

Bizarrely it is possible to pay less for a journey by 'split ticketing'.
As an illustration, let's say that you wish to travel from London-Kings Cross to Newcastle.
It might well be cheaper to buy a ticket from Kings Cross to York and another from York to Newcastle.
You stay on the train and probably have the same seat. It's perfectly within the terms and conditions and the only requirement is that the train is scheduled to stop at the intermediate station.

If faced with that journey I think I'd fly from either Luton or Heathrow.
The cost and time involved travelling to either of those airports probably wouldn't be much different to that of Kings Cross.
And there's no risk of having to stand for half the journey.