Why does my train trip cost more than a Malaga flight?

Simon Calder on expensive rail tickets, passports to Kenya, US border control and the Swiss capital

The route from Ayrshire to Liverpool involves three train operators including ScotRail (Getty)

Q I am looking at a trip from Ayrshire to Liverpool in October. How come it costs £110 to get from Kilmarnock to Liverpool when a flight from the Ayrshire airport of Prestwick to Malaga is only £25?

Chris W

A I imagine the quote you have obtained for the 220-mile trip is the £110 standard “walk-up” fare (ie what you would pay immediately before departure) because no advance tickets are on sale yet for that day. If you try again in a couple of months the fare should fall sharply. On 10 August, for example, the cheapest rail ticket from Kilmarnock to Liverpool is just £14.20 – and, with a railcard, that comes down to less than a tenner. Four weeks from now, it’s £22.60. Even travelling tomorrow morning, the fare is £40.