So interestingly Britain seems to have the cheapest long distance fares in this test. True, had I picked an evening peak train around 17:00, the London-Sheffield price would have gone up to £50, down to £25 around 18:30, back to £12.50 around 20:00.  But you get the picture.  Update:  In case you think London-Sheffield is a special case, I tried London-Manchester. £12.50. I then tried London-Leeds, £22.50.  London-Cardiff £12 or £19.

2. If travelling tomorrow...

Ha, ha, ha, that was pre-booking way in advance, of course it was cheaper!  What if you wanted to go tomorrow, then we'd easily have the most expensive train fares in Europe, right?  I'm sorry to say I thought that might indeed be the case.  But the results surprised even me:

In the UK, you can book advance fares up till 18:59 the day before travel, and in practice often up to 23:59 (even if they say 18:59!).  All the German cheapies disappear 3 days ahead, which is why the German route is now at the €73 full-price rate.  Economy & Super-economy fares also seem to have dried up between Rome & Florence.

3. If travelling today...

OK, OK, but that was still pre-booking an Advance ticket wasn't it?  What if you just turn up at the station and need to buy a ticket for the next train, then we're waaaaay pricier than Europe, right?  Indeed, I thought we probably would be, but it's easy enough to run the test and find out.  But guess what, another surprise!

For a purely one-way journey the UK is now more expensive.  But hold your horses!  For historic reasons an Off-Peak (formerly Saver) return is £1 more than a 1 way - this was inherited from BR at privatisation, and is now fossilised by Government fares regulation (it's a long story!).  So a round trip would be £70.50, equivalent to just £35.25 each way, whereas all the other countries you'd pay double what you see above.  So what d'ya know, if you're making a return journey the UK also seems cheapest for walk-up travel, assuming you avoid the Monday-Friday business peaks.  Now, where did you read that good news in the papers?!  East Midland Trains Off-peak Tickets are similar in price to West Coast's as I recall, although in fairness you might get a different answer using an East Coast route, as (again for historic reasons) East Coast has always had higher Saver/Off-Peak fares than other operators.  But you get the picture!

4. If travelling today in the business peak hours...

And now for completeness and an all-round perspective of UK rail fares (because I think the whole truth is important, not just soundbites), what if you just need to wander into the airport and buy a fully-flexible ticket for the next flight, as you naturally do?  Sorry, I mean wander into the station and buy a fully-flexible business ticket for the next train?  Yup, you guessed it, now the UK is indisputably the most expensive, although this is only for travel in the Monday-Friday business peaks.  I gather only 10-15% of travellers on a typical inter-city route buy these business-priced Anytime fares, so this is just 10-15% of the story.  Always ask what the other 85-90% is!  The Off-Peak fares referred to in test 3 above are likely to be bought by around 50%-55% of passengers on a typical long distance route, so are far more common.

Conclusion..

So the next time someone says (or you read) "Britain has the highest rail fares in Europe", you'll know this is only 15% of the story.  The other 85% is that we have similar or even cheaper fares, too.  The big picture is that Britain has the most commercially aggressive fares in Europe, with the highest fares designed to get maximum revenue from business travel, and some of the lowest fares designed to get more revenue by filling more seats.  This is exactly what airlines have known, and been doing, for decades. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself, check some UK train fares at www.nationalrail.co.uk...