When people compare the cost of the train and the bus, they always seem to assume that everyone lives within walking distance, and travels to somewhere within walking distance, of a train station, which is unlikely to be the case.
Which means they're probably going to have to use another form of transport to get to the train and/or when they get to their destination.
Just as a little example, if I were to travel to Darlington, on paper it looks like taking the train from Bishop is the best option, it takes ~25 minutes compared to ~45 minutes on the bus, and for only 20p more than the bus! That's a bargain for the amount of time saved.
But, I happen to live 1.5 miles from the train station, that's a half hour walk. But, the bus to the train station only takes 5-10 minutes. However, that adds an extra £2.50 onto the cost. So, if we assume that the times line up (which they don't), then I'm paying an extra £2.70 to save 15-20 minutes.
But wait, there's more! The train station in Darlington is a 10 minute walk from where I'd want to be! So, I'm only saving 5-10 minutes, and I've had to walk half a mile!
In reality, end to end taking the 'faster' option actually takes an extra 15 minutes, and costs an extra £2.70.
RE: Yorkshire Bus Operations