Trainline

Trainline, formerly branded Thetrainline.com, is an independent digital rail and coach ticketing platform. It sells tickets through its website, by telephone, and through its mobile app which is available on iOS, Windows Phone and Android platforms.

Trainline
Public company
Traded asLSE: TRN
IndustryTravel
Founded1997 (1997)
HeadquartersLondon, England
Number of locations
London, Edinburgh, Paris
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Doug McCallum (chairman)
Clare Gilmartin (CEO)
Shaun McCabe (CFO)
ProductsTrain tickets, mobile app
Revenue£209.5 million (2019)[1]
£10.5 million (2019)[1]
£(13.7) million (2019)[1]
Websitewww.thetrainline.com

It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History
Former logo as Thetrainline.com

Trainline was established in 1997 by the Virgin Group, and online ticket sales began in 1999. Stagecoach later purchased a 49% shareholding. In February 2004 Trainline merged with Qjump, its main competitor. Stagecoach sold out, with Virgin having a 86% shareholding in the merged company with National Express owning the other 14%.[2][3][4]

In July 2006, Exponent Private Equity acquired Trainline.[5][6] In July 2007, Trainline acquired Advanced Smartcard Technologies and ECEBS, signalling a new strategy to enter the smartcard market. Ecebs was subsequently sold to Bell ID in November 2012.[7]

The company was bought from Exponent by the private equity firm KKR in January 2015.[8] In August 2015, the company announced it had changed its name from thetrainline.com to Trainline.[9] In 2016, acquired Captain Train and re-branded it as Trainline EU.[10]

In June 2019, Trainline was the subject of an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.[11]

Activities

In addition to the online service provided direct to customers operated under its own brands Trainline and Qjump, it provides the website services for eight of the 20 UK train operating companies who sell tickets online under their own brands, as well as providing a rail business travel service direct to a number of large blue chip corporations, travel management companies and travel agents. Trainline also provides a call centre service to a number of the customers referred to above.[12]

References
  1. "Prospectus" (PDF). Airtel Africa. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  2. Stagecoach Group sells shareholding n The Trainline to Virgin Group Stagecoach 9 February 2004
  3. Rail booking firms set to merge BBC News 9 February 2004
  4. Tranline and Qjump couple ticket sales The Daily Telegraph 10 February 2004
  5. Trainline Expnet
  6. Low bids derail trainline.com sale The Daily Telegraph 22 July 2012
  7. "Bell ID buys Ecebs". Finextra. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  8. Berry, Freya (22 January 2015). "U.S. fund KKR buys Trainline, derails London listing". Reuters. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  9. "Adapting for mobile users". Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  10. "Trainline buys Captain Train". Railway Gazette. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  11. Ticketing app Trainline looks to rase £75m from share sale BBC News 29 May 2019
  12. "About thetrainline.com | How to save money on train tickets". Thetrainline.com. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
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