The removal of the Lake District region stops and the reduction of Carlisle stops makes an air link more viable.
Yes, but if the removal is done to win more business to Glasgow, and suddenly they start losing
bucketloads of pax at CAX, they would just put some of the stops back!
But does the train win on price?
Well we don't have sample air fares to compare.
But I was looking at doing Dumfries to Coventry at the end of next month, and that one train a day that stops at Rugby (thus giving me a Virgin rather than an XC fare) is about half the price of the others - £15 in total!
I don't buy the argument that planes are cheaper for domestic travel - some places some of the time will always cost less, especially if you are comparing a quiet morning with low yield against the ridiculous walk up fares.
As there's no such thing as a walk up plane fare, most like with like, including cost of getting to airport / station will favour the train.
Unless you happen to be selling anti-rust paint to Southend Pier!