Trainline PLC (LSE:TRN, FRA:2T9A) (LSE:TRN)’s ticket sales recovered to £1bn in its latest half-year as rail travel recovered strongly from coronavirus disruption.
Sales of tickets in the six months to end August 2021 jumped 179% compared to twelve months ago, when much of the UK network was effectively running on care and maintenance.
Revenues at the group rose 151% to £78mln with the FTSE 250 group expecting to post an underlying interim profit of between £13mln-£15mln.
Net ticket sales improved over the course of the half as restrictions eased, said the statement, with the second quarter at 71% of total sales last year and hitting their highest level since the onset of Covid in August.
International ticket sales have also recovered with a 5% improvement compared with two years ago.
The UK meanwhile is seeing a growing use of e-tickets with their proportion rising to 40% in the latest quarter from just over 20% last year.
For the year 2021, Trainline is now guiding towards net ticket sales in the range of £2.4bn-£2.8bn and underlying profits of between £35mln-£40mln.
Jody Ford, Trainline chief executive, said it was reassuring to see rail travel resuming again across Europe though it was still unclear how long it would take for demand to return fully to pre-pandemic levels.