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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Plane Sailing" data-source="post: 5232252" data-attributes="member: 114">True before Beeching, but not so much now. Routes into and out of London are well served, and if you are on one of those major routes (or in one of the other large cities - including Southampton, evidently!), but cross country routes are a nightmare, mostly just not existing anymore; even when there is a usable route trains are so expensive that for more than single people they are rarely a cost effective option.Bottom line - trains are OK (but expensive) for getting into and out of London or other cities. But for most other town to town travel are either out of the question or involve routes going into a city and then out again. And if you are trying to take a family of 3 or more, forget it! If I wanted to go to Leeds tomorrow to visit friends, we could take the train into London (45 mins), get across to Kings Cross (15 mins), wait for the train to Leeds (~30mins), take the train up to leeds (120 mins) - best case 3.5 hours. Cost about £400 for the family. Or we can drive up there in 3hrs for 17lt fuel, about £20.There's a good reason why cars are more frequently used than trains by people all over the country outside the cities!Cheers</blockquote>