Trainline


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

History

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%.
In July 2006, Exponent Private Equity acquired Trainline. 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.
The company was bought from Exponent by the private equity firm KKR in January 2015. In August 2015, the company announced it had changed its name from thetrainline.com to Trainline. In 2016, acquired Captain Train and re-branded it as Trainline EU.
In June 2019, after an initial public offering the company floated on the London Stock Exchange.

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.