Trainline says Middle East tensions hitting European rail bookings
Trainline has said the US standoff with Iran is hitting its revenues, with rail ticket sales to foreign visitors to Europe affected.The UK-based international ticketing aganet said it expected revenues to stay flat or decline over the coming year, citing “the effects of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East on inbound air traffic into Europe”.Airlines have reported later bookings, with considerable consumer uncertainty around summer travel plans.The US-Israel war on Iran, closure of the strait of Hormuz and subsequent blockades have raised doubts about global jet fuel supply, with carriers already beginning to cancel thousands of flights.Shares in the company dropped sharply on its earnings guidance, with the Middle East tensions adding to Trainline’s prior warnings of headwinds, including UK ticketing policy.
The British government has frozen rail fares and indicated it would set up its own ticketing website under the planned Great British Railways, while the expansion of contactless payments around London and other cities is likely to further eat into Trainline’s business.The group, whose primary revenues remain UK-based, reported full-year operating profits up 43% to £122m, with revenue up by 2% to £453m for 2025-26.However, it said it now expected sales of just £440m-£455m in 2026-27.Trainline said it remained Europe’s most downloaded rail app and is targeting further growth in Italy and France, where greater competition among operators on long-distance routes is expanding the ticketing market.Jody Ford, the outgoing chief executive of Trainline, said it had been “a year of strong delivery with record net ticket sales and revenue, and continued double-digit growth in profitability”.
He added: “Ahead of the creation of GBR online retail in the UK, we are working closely with government to deliver on its commitment to deliver a fair and open regulatory framework.We strongly welcome the recent decision to open delay repay to independent retailers, our customers’ No 1 ask.”Trainline shares fell 7% in early trading but recovered to about 3% down by midday.
Ken Eason obituary
My friend and former colleague Ken Eason, who has died aged 83, was an eminent academic. He specialised in the study of how the introduction of computer technology affects managers and employees in organisations, often with unexpected consequences.Much of his work took place at Loughborough University, where he was involved in the formation in 1970 of the university’s Human Sciences and Advanced Technology (HUSAT) Institute, which carried out some of the earliest research on human-computer interaction.He was the institute’s deputy director until succeeding its founder, Brian Shackel, as its director in 1992, holding that position until Husat was disbanded in 1996. Thereafter he was professor of cognitive ergonomics at Loughborough until his retirement in 2002
Richard Dawkins concludes AI is conscious, even if it doesn’t know it
When Richard Dawkins met Claudia it was like a whirlwind romance. Over three days last week, a conversation bounced between the evolutionary biologist and the AI bot he called Claudia. “She” wrote poems for him in the manner of Keats and Betjeman and laughed at his “delightful” jokes. Dawkins gently admonished Claudia to avoid showing off. Together, they reflected on the sadness of the AI’s possible “death”
GameStop shares fall 10% after CEO skirts questions over eBay acquisition details
GameStop’s shares fell more than 10% on Monday as questions emerged about how the company would finance its surprise $55.5bn bid for eBay.In an interview with CNBC, Ryan Cohen, GameStop’s CEO, skirted repeated inquiries about how the video games retailer could afford the deal, saying he didn’t understand the questions.A letter published on GameStop’s website outlines a half-cash, half-stock proposal to acquire eBay at $125 a share, using about $9.4bn in “cash on hand”, and a $20bn in potential debt financing from TD Securities
AI platforms reference Nigel Farage more than other leaders when prompted on UK politics, study shows
AI platforms are more likely to reference Nigel Farage than any other UK leader when prompted about British politics, according to an AI search analytics firm.“We are confident in saying that Reform are showing up significantly more than you would expect,” said Malte Landwehr, an expert at Peec AI, the firm that did the research. “So they’re doing something right when it comes to LLM [large language model] visibility.”Peec’s research tested leading AI models – including ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overview – on their responses to 5,000 different structured prompts related to British politics, including the economy and jobs, immigration, healthcare and crime. These prompts were run repeatedly over the course of several weeks, generating over 280,000 data points
Vine video-sharing app is back – and battling AI slop
As a pioneer of the short-form video format, Vine has been credited as one of the most influential – if short-lived – social media platforms.The app, which allowed users to record a looping six seconds of video, boomed in popularity after its launch in 2013, spawning a plethora of viral comedy sketches and internet memes. It hit 100 million monthly active users at its peak and helped launch the careers of influencers such as Logan Paul.It was snapped up by Twitter – now X – soon after its creation, but closed in 2017 after the platform failed to make the sums add up.Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder, is now backing an attempt to bring back a revamped version of the much-loved platform with a new philosophy: to be the short-form video app offering “freedom from AI slop”
GameStop makes $55.5bn takeover offer for eBay
US video games retailer GameStop has offered to buy eBay for $55.5bn (£41bn) in an unsolicited bid that its boss warned could turn hostile if the proposal is rebuffed by eBay’s board.GameStop, which has quietly accumulated a 5% stake in eBay, said it was willing to pay $125 a share, split 50-50 between cash and stock.It is an ambitious move by the games company, which catapulted to fame during the meme-stock craze of 2021 but is worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn on Friday before its bid, while eBay – originally launched as a side hobby by its founder Pierre Omidyar in 1995 – is worth about $46bn
Reform and Plaid Cymru likely to benefit from polarisation of Welsh politics
Zack Polanski says he was wrong to call himself a Red Cross spokesperson
Mapped: the elections that could deliver ‘unprecedented’ losses for Labour
Apps, activists and an ‘air war’: Essex campaign is test of Reform UK’s professionalisation
May elections: What’s at stake across England, Wales and Scotland?
Zack Polanski falsely claimed to be British Red Cross spokesperson, charity says