Trainline PLC (LSE:TRN) has confirmed the terms of a memorandum of understanding with the Rail Delivery Group to lower commission rates from online train ticket sales will take effect in 2025.
The FTSE 250-listed ticket provider will cut commission from online sales by 0.5 percentage points to 4.5% from 5%, though an offsetting of central industry costs will limit the net impact to just 0.25 percentage points, Trainline noted.
New licensing conditions come after a review of third-party ticket sellers by the National Rail-run industry body, with Trainline’s terms having been agreed in March last year.
Liberum analysts reiterated a ‘buy’ rating for Trainline following the news, though did not dwell on the terms of the deal, which were unchanged after a year of negotiation.
The investment bank instead focused on last week’s union announcements of further rail strikes in the UK, but suggested these would not create long-term issues for Trainline.
“Trainline’s structural growth story remains unchanged, but we do acknowledge the sentiment and earnings impact of the strikes will weigh on the shares in the short term,” Liberum said.
Trainline’s outlook for 2024 “will be the key information” in an upcoming update on 4 May, Liberum added, rather than an anticipated £2mln hit to pre-tax earnings per strike day.
Trainline shares rose 0.2% to 250p following the news.