Trainline boss on track for £43m payday

Clare Gilmartin

The payout will also see her join a very select group of women running firms on the stock market.

Trainline was started in 1997 as part of Virgin Rail, selling tickets through call centres, and is now owned by US private equity firm KKR.

The company – which uses algorithms to scour train and bus timetables to plot the cheapest routes for passengers – has proven so successful that insiders believe it could be worth £1.5 billion when its shares go on sale.

It means Mrs Gilmartin’s 2.8 per cent stake could be worth £42.5 million.

Other Trainline executives who are poised to cash in on the flotation include chairman Douglas McCallum, who could make £18 million, and finance chief Shaun McCabe, who could make £11.9 million.

Married with three children, 43-year- old Gilmartin took the helm at Trainline five years ago and has overseen its transformation into a pioneer in Britain’s technology industry, raking in £3.2 billion last year and employing about 600 staff.

It now operates in 45 European and Asian countries and sells more than 200 tickets every minute on its website and smartphone app.

She was born in Dublin and studied international commerce and German at the city’s University College.

Having started her management career at Unilever in 1997, she went on to work for US-based Boston Consulting Group and then internet retail giant eBay, where she stayed for nine years.