The UK is an outlier for train ticket prices. There's a huge difference between booking an inflexible ticket in advance, and buying a ticket on the day. Elsew

The UK is an outlier for train ticket prices. There's a huge difference between booking an inflexible ticket in advance, and buying a ticket on the day. Elsewhere in Europe there's usually less difference. Here in Denmark the cheapest Copenhagen-Århus ticket booked in advance is around £15, and the standard ticket (any time) is £50. London to Manchester is a similar distance, and the price varies from around £20 (supposedly) to £185. Hmm... I expected the cheapest ticket in England to be less than the cheapest in Denmark. (Denmark isn't big enough for an equivalent journey to London-Edinburgh, but Sweden is. I notice the Malmö-Stockholm route is so busy the direct trains are mostly fully booked for several days ahead — Britain does have more capacity in return for the expensive fares.)