Trainline, the online rail ticketing platform, received a boost on Friday after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) launched a consultation on a new Retail Code of Practice designed.
This would prevent Great British Railways (GBR) from using its control of the rail network to favour its own ticket-selling operation.
The proposed code would require GBR to provide fair, transparent and non-discriminatory access to fares, products, systems and data, with compliance built into GBR's licence conditions, giving the ORR real enforcement powers if breaches occur.
Trainline, up 3% at 208p, is well below broker price targets, as investors fretted that GBR's planned consolidation of the 14 existing train operator websites and apps into a single platform could squeeze independent retailers out of the market.
The ORR consultation directly addresses that concern, though brokers were careful not to overstate its significance.
Stifel, which has a 'buy' rating and a 330p price target on the stock, described the announcement as "directionally positive on regulatory risk, but not sufficient on its own to justify an earnings change".
The bank said the key questions remained how the final rules would translate into practical access terms, protection of retailer data and the speed of remedies if discrimination occurred.
Shore Capital was more effusive, calling the consultation "broadly the outcome investors will have been hoping for" and reiterating its 'buy' rating with a 400p target.
The broker noted that compliance would sit within GBR's licence conditions, with GBR also remaining subject to competition law, and said the development helped reduce "one of the longer-term strategic overhangs surrounding the UK rail market".
Both banks agreed that the code protects Trainline's right to compete, not its market share.
The consultation closes on 11 December, with a final code expected in spring 2027.
