Originally Posted by
ATNotts
Virgin Trains offer a far quicker city centre to city centre service than any of the airlines
However, only a minority of traffic is heading for city centres nowadays, and only a fraction of that is centre-to-centre. London/SE England is big enough to be separate markets in separate areas. If you live in say Maidstone and have a business meeting in Northwich, try doing that by train.
The Manchester trains eliminated their stop at Watford, and that cut out the whole west-of-London market from them.
London City is often quoted as an airport that just serves those in Canary Wharf, yet talking to fellow passengers they come from far and wide, well out into Essex or Kent, and all across London.