Australian Travel Start-Up Faces Collapse: $2.7 Million Debt Leaves Employees Unpaid

An Australian start-up that specialized in simplifying the purchase of international train tickets has ceased operations.

Metro 1 Travel and Technology Pty Ltd, the company behind the lesser-known booking platform ‘Rail Online,’ has gone bankrupt, leaving behind a debt of $2.7 million.

The company was placed into liquidation on New Year’s Eve, still owing approximately $879,000 to its employees, who had been working remotely for the now-defunct international rail booking service based in Sydney.

According to a report from the administrators, about $603,304 of this debt is attributed to unpaid wages.

James Dunne, the director of Metro 1 Travel and Technology Pty Ltd, had been counting on a $12 million capital infusion last month. The funds were intended to clear debts and support future expansion, but that plan fell through.

Prior to its closure, the company provided a service for travelers seeking to book international rail tickets for destinations in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan, until financial constraints forced it to shut down.

The first nail in the coffin for Metro 1 Travel and Technology Pty Ltd was after it failed to repay train travel giant Eurail which last October issued a ‘statutory demand’ for money it was owed.  

Eurail is an easy-to-use website which allows overseas travellers to book European train passes online with the click of a button. 

Metro 1 Travel and Technology Pty Ltd which ran little known train booking platform ‘Rail Online’ has gone under with $2.7million in debt

Rail Online helped travellers purchase international train tickets

This warning page is what remains of Rail Online

Aussie travellers can easily use Eurail and other popular services including BritRail, which offers train passes for the UK.

It’s also relatively easy to obtain a Japan Rail Pass by purchasing one online via the official website.

The pass for non-Japanese residents offers enormous ease jumping on and off Shinkansen bullet trains.

It’s unclear why anyone would use an online third-party to book train travel, however, according to a statement on the last remaining page of the Rail Online website, rail tickets that have already been purchased and issued remain ‘valid for travel’.

A document filed with ASIC last week showed the company owed about $2.7million in estimated debts, including about $1.8million owed to unsecured creditors.

It’s been reported, some senior staff previously agreed to the company accruing a portion of their salary and wages to help with its capital requirements’.

These staff agreed to the deal with the ‘understanding they would be paid their accrued wages once the company had enough liquidity’.

The administrators were investigating the accrued amounts further, according to the report filed to ASIC last week.

Rail Online sold tickets for trains in Japan. A Shinkansen bullet train zooms past Mount Fuji (above).

Travellers can easily use Eurail and other popular services including BritRail, which offers train passes for the UK

Metro 1 Travel and Technology Pty Ltd failed to repay train travel giant Eurail which last October issued a ‘statutory demand’ for money it was owed

Prior to the company’s liquidation, senior Metro 1 Travel and Technology staff terminated the employment of one employee and stood down three others before they were also made redundant last month.

The report states Metro 1 Travel and Technology had been ‘unable to repay legacy debts to major creditors’ and it ‘could not scale the business’.

‘As the company was not able to achieve revenue growth, it did not have the financial means to support its cost base, which was already relatively lean,’ the administrators wrote.

‘This resulted in the company accruing significant legacy debts in which it was ultimately unable to repay as and when they fell due.’

Mr Dunne told administrators the intended $12million capital raise was unsuccessful due to ‘external factors’. 

The administrators are looking for potential buyers of the Rail Online business and reported they were in discussions with interested parties.

Creditors were expected to receive an estimated total of up to $366,382 if the Rail Online sale was successful.

The administrators are also investigating a potential tax refund between $120,000 to $200,000 for ‘costs incurred developing the intellectual property for the Rail Online platform’, the report states.

The Japan Rail Pass offers enormous ease jumping on-and-off Shinkansen bullet trains (above)

Metro 1 Travel and Technology Pty Ltd is also waiting on $73,000 from debtors which, if collected, could boost the payout for creditors.

The administrators also found $120,288.99 left in the company’s bank and PayPal accounts but a further $134,000 in bank guarantees provided to rail operators would be tricky to recover as the company owes major debt to these rail companies.

Mr Dunne was contacted for comment.