Trainline urges ministers to play fair with state competitor
The spectre of the renationalised Great British Railways eating into Trainline's business, plus a further warning of slower growth in ticket volumes and revenues from selling rail fares digitally to passengers, weighed on the company's shares in trading on Thursday.
The stock, floated six years ago at 350p, fell 11¼p, or 4 per cent, to 268¾p, heading back toward recent 18-month lows.
• Investors fear state-backed rival to Trainline's dominance
Trainline is an online app selling rail tickets to a customer base of 18 million customers in Britain and increasingly around Europe. It was created just before the turn of the millennium and has been
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
20 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Ireland's anti-Israel posturing could cost it dearly
In 1996, the foreign editor of the Irish Times, Paul Gillespie, leafed through Ireland's first military white paper. The document was notably vague on the country's role in global affairs. 'Precisely the absence of strategic interests,' he warned, 'can tempt small states into a moralistic response to international political issues.' How prescient that now seems. After October 7, the Irish government wasted no time clambering onto a soap box to issue proclamations about the most complex urban war in living memory, from the comfort of an island on the edge of Western Europe. Free from threats, and with the RAF guarding its skies, the solutions to a conflict 3,500 miles away seem irritatingly obvious to Dublin. Hamas tunnel networks dwarfing the London Underground, booby-trapped homes, hospitals repurposed as terror bunkers, were mere details repeatedly brushed aside with calls for 'de-escalation' and, more fatuously, a 'two-state solution.' This may have had a cathartic effect – for both politicians and constituents, who are joined by much of the world in their dismay at the destruction in Gaza. But wars are not won with platitudes, nor with hollow gestures dressed up as policy. To the extent this basic truth has dawned on Dublin – and the odd glimmer of self-awareness suggests it might have – it hasn't dampened its appetite to intervene. This week, Ireland raced to become the first European country to ban imports from Israel's occupied territories. 'There isn't another country in the European Union,' boasted the foreign minister, Simon Harris, 'that you can visit today and ask a government minister about their bill to ban trade… because they don't have one.' The braggadocio didn't end there. Ireland stood, in his estimation, as a lone beacon for humanity, 'speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza.' All very well. But what exactly does that entail? On Wednesday, the cabinet approved the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill. The Bill is a curious artefact – not least because its acronym, PIGS, invites unfortunate interpretations, particularly given the Irish government's increasing animosity toward Israel. If passed, it will ban imports from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Gaza – a wide net. Camp David is firmly in the rear-view mirror The connection between the first three regions and the war in Gaza is tenuous at best. When someone raises the issue of the settlements in this context, it's often a sign they view the current conflict through the lens of an earlier, more sanguine era. Camp David is firmly in the rear-view mirror. Today, the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, loathes Hamas and shares Israel's desire to see them expunged. There remains no party with which to negotiate the stewardship of the territories now commonly referred to as 'Palestinian' – each captured, incidentally, by Israel in wars it did not initiate. Such nuances vanish under the telescopic moralism through which Dublin views the conflict in the Middle East. No one is glued to that telescope more firmly than Simon Harris, the former taoiseach whose tenure saw the re-opening of an embassy in Tehran and the closure of Israel's embassy in Dublin, shortly before its foreign minister branded Harris 'antisemitic.' That accusation may be too simplistic. There's no reason to suspect Mr Harris is prejudiced against Jews, as such, but the Jewish State is another matter. Last year, upon becoming the leader of Fine Gael, Mr Harris disinvited the Israeli ambassador from his first party conference. Her Iranian counterpart, meanwhile, was free to attend. Mr Harris is determined to, as he puts it, 'pull every lever' at his disposal to pressure Israel to end the conflict. Needless to say, depriving the Israeli economy of €200,000 worth of mostly dates and avocados won't exactly blow a hole in its war chest. With the addition of East Jerusalem, the bill would, however, make it illegal for Irish tourists to bring home souvenirs from the Old City. The sight of customs officers quizzing arrivals on where in the Jewish State they bought their Madonna sculpture could prove an unpleasant novelty that the 'land of a thousand welcomes' may come to regret. 'Ireland... is on a hateful, antisemitic path' The repercussions may be further reaching than that. On Wednesday, senator Jim Risch, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lambasted the decision. 'Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,' he warned. This is not idle talk. More than 30 US states have enacted anti-boycott laws which sanction companies boycotting Israel. Donald Trump has already indicated he would do the same. With the US as its largest trading partner, Ireland has effectively assembled a financial landmine and publicly declared its intention to step on it. One would have thought Mr Harris has more pressing matters to attend to than inflicting economic harm on his countrymen for a gesture that is, by the government's admission, purely 'symbolic.' The US has already threatened to reshore its pharmaceutical industry, on which Ireland's economy depends. Only this week, Japan expressed concerns to the taoiseach over the security of subsea cables off the Irish coast – vital arteries for data and energy between Europe and America – which are increasingly stalked by Russian submarines. Of course, from Dublin's point of view, this is someone else's problem – namely the Anglo-American defence umbrella which has allowed it to get by with negligible defence spending while its European colleagues scrabble for funds. How else would Ireland find the time, and the resources, to arbitrate Israeli settlements? Small countries that believe in their own exceptionalism often develop the peculiar neurosis of needing to, as it were, punch above their weight. With limited material power, this tendency is usually expressed by grandstanding on the international stage. Sweden once styled itself a 'moral superpower,' until its rhetoric collided with reality, helping turn it into the bomb and grenade attack capital of the developed world. Ireland, increasingly, appears determined to trace the same path.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
easyJet exposed 'paying £1 bonus to airport staff who catch out passengers with oversized baggage'
Airport staff are cashing in on bonuses for catching easyJet passengers with oversized bags, a leaked email has revealed. The email, sent to employees of Swissport, which runs passenger gates in several airports in Britain, confirmed that staff would receive £1.20 (£1 after tax) for every 'gate bag' deemed too large to take onboard without paying extra. This controversial 'easyJet gate bag revenue incentive' is still active, rewarding gate agents for enforcing baggage rules at airports including Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Jersey, Liverpool, and Newcastle. The scheme aims to 'reward agents doing the right thing' with direct payments to employees, according to the internal message signed by Dean Martin, a Swissport station manager at Glasgow Airport, seen by the Sunday Times. Similar bonus arrangements also exist at other airports, with DHL Supply Chain staff at Gatwick, Bristol, and Manchester receiving a 'nominal amount' per oversized bag spotted. Passengers are allowed one small bag free with easyJet, but larger bags must be paid for, with fees starting at £5.99 and soaring to nearly £33 on some routes. At the gate, if caught with an unpaid oversized bag, travellers face a £48 charge, of which £1.20 goes directly into the pockets of airport staff. Many passengers have complained about aggressive enforcement and inconsistent sizing, sometimes being forced to pay despite bags fitting official size frames. Ground staff are employed by third-party handling companies, which vary between airports. These companies manage staff pay and incentive schemes independently, and easyJet is not involved in or responsible for how bonuses are issued. A Swissport spokesperson emphasised that the company follows airline policies under agreed terms, focusing on professionalism and delivering safe, efficient operations across millions of flights each year. An easyJet spokeswoman said: 'easyJet is focused on ensuring our ground handling partners apply our policies correctly and consistently in fairness to all our customers. 'Our bag policies and options are well understood and we remind customers of this when booking, before they travel and on their boarding pass which means a very small proportion of customers who don't comply will be charged at the airport.' Swissport was approached for comment. It comes as Ryanair has announced plans to boost the size of its free 'personal bag' allowance. The budget airline currently lets passengers bring a small bag measuring 40x20x25cm for free, but that's about to change. Ryanair will soon let holidaymakers carry bags up to 40x30x20cm, a 20% increase, following new EU rules that set a minimum free baggage size of 40x30x15cm. The bigger allowance kicks in within weeks once Ryanair updates its bag sizers. In the TikTok shared by him, it shows his holdall clearly fitting into the measuring space Make the most of the space you have! A packing expert has revealed ten clever suitcase hacks to help travellers save space and stay organised. Chantel Ibbotson, a popular TikToker shared tips on how to make the most of the space in the suitcase. They are: Fold clothes and scarves vertically to maximise space. Add essential oil to cotton balls in a bag to keep clothes smelling fresh. Wrap belts around the suitcase edge to save room. Use the lining to separate slippers and sliders. Squeeze air out of toiletries to prevent leaks. Cover toiletry lids with silicone pads to stop spills. Thread necklaces through straws to avoid tangling. Attach earrings to buttons to keep them together. Stuff socks and chargers inside shoes to use up space. Place an AirTag in your suitcase in case it goes missing. Bags still must weigh under 10kg and fit under the seat. But even with the upgrade, Ryanair's free bag is smaller than easyJet's current generous allowance of 45x36x20cm. The EU is cracking down to make luggage rules simpler for passengers across all airlines. It follows a man who slammed easyJet after being hit with a £48 fine for his bag being too large - despite the fact it fitted perfectly into the airline's baggage size checker. Jake Hughes was attempting to board his flight at Manchester Airport on Wednesday but clashed with a member of staff who insisted his hand luggage was too big. Despite demonstrating to staff that this wasn't the case, Jake claims the budget airline threatened to 'terminate' his boarding pass if he didn't cough up the money and made him delete all the footage he had taken. Video filmed by Jake shows the bag - a small grey holdall - inside one of the metal frames used by easyJet to measure cabin bag size, fitting neatly into the space. Jake points at it and says: 'This bag fits perfectly in here. easyJet flight.' The staff member, who appears to work for an external handling company on behalf of the airline, asks him to remove it. He initially reaches for it but decides to leave it in and asks to speak to somebody more senior. He says: 'No, I'm actually going to leave it in there. I need a manager to see this. Someone higher up than you to see this.' A queue of passengers can be seen waiting with their bags to his side. He gestures to the size frame on the other side, but the staff member claims it is only for passengers entitled to 'speedy boarding'. Jake repeats: 'So this is my bag, I need a manager here.'
The Sun
35 minutes ago
- The Sun
Wetherspoons brings BACK iconic menu item months after it vanished from pubs across the UK
WETHERSPOONS is bringing back a legendary item at all 809 pubs months after it was axed. The bargain boozer has revealed that its chicken bites are going to be back on menus. 1 The £6.49 treats had been listed as "temporarily unavailable" since April. The 10 chicken bites also come complete with a portion of chips and a handful of condiments. A JD Wetherspoon spokesperson said: "Chicken bites are now available in all Wetherspoon pubs." The pub chain did not add why the popular item had been scratched in the first place. Revellers had for months questioned the whereabouts of the staple since it vanished. "It has been over one month without the chicken bites on the menu and I physically can't do this," one fan wrote on the Reddit group r/Wetherspoons. "Where have they gone?" Another wrote: "My beautiful, mouthwatering, crisped bites, that even the heavens have blessed with an angel's touch, where have you gone. "I suffer with agony and mourn every second without you in my spoons pub. "For real though, whats actually happened to them?? They're still on my local pub menus but they're never in stock." I went to the UK's biggest Wetherspoons with rooftop bar overlooking the beach The Sun Online has reached out to Wetherspoons for comment. What else is happening at Wetherspoons? Late last week, Spoons closed a beloved pub in Coventry. The Spon Gate in Coventry was a favourite among locals and closed for good on May 25. Two other Spoons still serve the city with The Flying Standard and The Early of Mercia remaining in operation. The Spon Gate was a favourite among locals though and was called the "best" city centre pub. Elsehwere, Spoons also launched a £2.99 breakfast deal in February, with customers able to get a breakfast muffin or small breakfast with soft or hot drink. There are also veggie options available, which is served between 8am and midday. How can I save money at Wetherspoons? PUB-GOERS love Wetherspoons for its competitive pricing and low-cost meals - but did you know there are more ways to save money? Senior consumer reporter Olivia Marshall explains how. Free refills - Buy a £1.50 tea, coffee or hot chocolate and you can get free refills. The deal is available all day, every day. Check a map - Prices can vary from one location the next, even those close to each other. So if you're planning a pint at a Spoons, it's worth popping in nearby pubs to see if you're settling in at the cheapest. Choose your day - Each night the pub chain runs certain food theme nights. For instance, every Thursday night is curry club, where diners can get a main meal and a drink for a set price cheaper than usual. Pick-up vouchers - Students can often pick up voucher books in their local near universities, which offer discounts on food and drink, so keep your eyes peeled. Get appy - The Wetherspoons app allows you to order and pay for your drink and food from your table - but you don't need to be in the pub to use it. Taking full advantage of this, cheeky customers have used social media to ask their friends and family to order them drinks. The app is free to download on the App Store or Google Play. Check the date - Every year, Spoons holds its Tax Equality Day to highlight the benefits of a permanently reduced tax bill for the pub industry. It usually takes place in September, and last year it fell on Thursday, September 14. As well as its 12-day Real Ale Festival every Autumn, Wetherspoons also holds a Spring Festival.
