Trainline Leverages PubMatic's Commerce Media Technology to Scale Programmatic Advertising Across Europe

by editorial on 3rd Jun 2025 in News

PubMatic, an independent technology company shaping the future of digital advertising's supply chain, today (June 3rd, 2025) announced an expanded partnership with Trainline. The partnership incorporates both onsite and offsite capabilities, allowing agencies and advertisers to utilise Trainline's rich first-party data and premium inventory while streamlining the company’s programmatic operations.

Trainline is Europe's leading train and coach app, with 27 million active customers worldwide. The platform enables users to view routes, travel times, and purchase tickets from over 300 rail and coach operators across 40 countries.

The enhanced partnership with PubMatic allows media buyers exclusive access to Trainline's unique audiences and first-party data through PubMatic’s curation and data solution, Connect. The integration is live in the UK, France, Italy, and Spain.

“Trainline is uniquely positioned to engage consumers during key moments of their journey, offering highly targeted and scalable advertising opportunities that connect brands with our users when they are most receptive to making purchasing decisions,” said Sam Eads, head of UK ad sales and account management, Trainline. “Our advertising solution includes in-app ads, journey-specific messaging, and display placements across our platform. Using our first-party data, we provide innovative ways for brands to capture attention at scale and drive impact.”

Additionally, the partnership represents a pivotal step forward in the Trainline’s onsite programmatic advertising capabilities, marking its first foray into header bidding technology with the integration of PubMatic’s wrapper solution, OpenWrap. This strategic partnership equips Trainline with comprehensive monetisation optimisation tools, data-driven insights, and robust quality assurance features that improve how the company delivers, measures, and monetises its advertising inventory.

By simplifying the process for advertisers whilst retaining complete control over its data and user experience, Trainline is better positioned to grow its ad business at scale.

Commenting on the partnership, Babs Kehinde, senior director, commerce media, EMEA, PubMatic said, “We're excited to deepen our partnership with Trainline through our comprehensive commerce media solutions, supporting both their onsite and offsite retail media marketing needs. Through OpenWrap and Connect, Trainline can now leverage multiple demand sources through a single integration with privacy-centric solutions, whilst keeping exclusive control over its valuable first-party data. This streamlined approach enables both the buy- and sell-side to remove barriers, increase transparency, and unlock greater opportunities for advertisers to connect with their target audiences.” 

As demand for commerce media accelerates, this collaboration demonstrates how innovative partnerships and the right technology can unlock significant new value for commerce companies and advertisers alike. Trainline's strategic approach to digital advertising exemplifies the potential for travel platforms to unlock new revenue streams whilst simultaneously enhancing the customer experience.

[For more information, contact: PubMatic EMEA Commerce Team emeacommerce-team@pubmatic.com