- Shares in the FTSE 250 company have lost a third of their value this year
Trainline shares have plunged amidst continued investor unease about competition from a new state-backed ticketing platform.
Shares in the FTSE 250 firm tumbled 11.4 per cent to 278p by late Thursday morning, meaning they have lost a third of their value this year.
The Department of Transport announced plans in January to introduce a new online service that would combine different train operators’ ticket websites and modernise the UK’s complex railway ticketing system.
It said the new retailer would only be established once Great British Railways (GBR) is set up, probably by 2027 at the earliest, and ‘work alongside a thriving private sector retail market.’
While Trainline said the GBR ticketing app will ‘likely take several years to crystallise,’ investors are very concerned about its potential effect on the company’s dominance of the UK domestic rail sector.
Trainline has enjoyed three successive years of record ticket purchases as a rising share of British rail passengers have booked their tickets online.
Rival concerns: Trainline shares have plunged despite the group reporting record sales amid investor worries about competition from a new state-backed ticketing platform
Its net ticket sales and turnover both increased by 12 per cent and constant currency rates to £5.9billion and £442milion, respectively, last year.
Growth was driven by its domestic consumer segment and Trainline Solutions, which helps businesses with their rail booking systems, benefiting from reduced levels of industrial action.
Trading was also boosted by hotel and insurance bookings, soaring ticket purchases in Spain, and higher white-label carrier sales.
Following the result, Trainline has unveiled another share buyback programme worth up to £75million.
The London-based company also expects its adjusted earnings for the 2025 financial year to be ‘marginally ahead’ of its previously upgraded guidance.
Jody Ford, chief executive of Trainline, remarked: ‘Our decades-long experience in delivering ease, choice and value for our 27 million customers sets us apart from the competition, be it global tech players or national incumbents.
‘There is still so much to be achieved in the UK and Europe, with the critical foundation being open, fair and competitive markets. Rail is set to surge across Europe, and Trainline will be at the centre of it.’
Trainline partly earns money through commissions and booking fees on rail journeys, which a government-owned rival could seriously impact.
The previous Conservative government mooted plans to create a new digital ticketing service before dropping the idea in December 2023.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘A big selling point for Trainline is it enables people to navigate what is a complex ticketing set-up in the UK with several different operators.
‘If GBR works as intended, the system should be simplified, and it is unlikely that a state-backed platform would charge commission in the same way that Trainline does, leaving the business reliant on its brand recognition.’
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