The railways are taking more and more domestic traffic now as journey times are speeding up
Depends where you're going, if you're headed to/from the middle of London on an intercity pendolino then yes. Otherwise not.
If you're headed out to/from the Thames Valley "powerhouse", then a flight to/from Heathrow (where available) may be better. If you're headed the City or Docklands/Canary Wharf ", then a flight to/from London CityHeathrow (where available) may be better.
If you're journeying between points not touching London, then you're probably on a not-so-frequent, very slow, stopping all over the place, cross country train. Flying is clearly a better option.
The faster and more frequent the train, the higher the fare.
Some are, but others definitely are not....example being SW England into London. For example, Flybe from EXT into LCY often cheaper than the train and definitely quicker (depending on where you're actually going in London)
Ditto CWL, BE's original tempory service was retained after the Severn rail tunnel re-opened. Good to have choice of transport modes.
True again in some cases, but plenty of routes around the UK (and some into regional France) that won't ever be RYR or EZY territory.
That's BE's strength: focussing on the thinner routes, and it has the correct aircraft types for this, unlike BA, FR, U2, etc..
1. It's not speed but frequency. Between both GLA and EDI there are usually three flights per day to MAN. (There are no GLA - MAN flights on a Saturday). Train is every hour alternately. I suspect that most MAN PAX from Scotland either take a coach or drive - whenever I'm in Tebay services there always seem to be holiday groups.
Despite being mostly on an intercity line, Ringway-Glasgow Central via Manchester Piccadilly isn't a fast journey: pendolinos or other intercity trains do not operate on this route. It's only recently been running electric trains (EMUs). Think they run every 2 hours, alternating with Ringway-Edinburgh.