Children travelling by train alone

AllyS

Hi all

Please can I have opinions?

DD is 13, very sensible, but looks small for her age, always been very mature. DS is nearly 10 a bit silly at times, e.g. does not always look when crossing a road, but very intelligent.

There Dad lives in London, we live in Devon, we always do pick up/drop off half way. With price of petrol going up train travel is looking very cheap in comparison.

There is a change at Waterloo but Dad works in London so he can collect them from Waterloo on the tube (free for him and kids)

Would you let your children do the train journey? Lots of my friends put their children on planes to meet relatives, but it seems to be a little more controlled on a train. What pitfalls do you think there could be? I haven't mentioned it to kids yet, because I know they will want to do it and I have yet to make my mind up. I dont want them thinking I don't trust them to complete the journey.

Any comments appreciated good or bad

Edited to say DD has travelled in to Exeter on her own with friends, and is very independent already and they were living in a big town before we moved 2 years ago.

LandyAndy

I think your DD is old enough to do the journey alone but I doubt she's old enough to do it and have sole charge of her brother for several hours.

Absinthe_2

I used to get put on a coach (by my paternal grandparents from a very young age, as lived a good distance away). They would put me/us next to a little old lady with a bag of sweets, and we'd be picked up the other end, no probs.

One thing that would concern me is potentially getting off at the wrong stop, and then getting lost. So perhaps would be best to do a trial run first?

Is there a coach alternative? Yes would probably take all day, but you will feel a lot safer knowing that your kids are travelling from point A to B, with no confusion.

kimmi_b

I don't think I would let them, no.

I occasaionally travel to London for work and at 36 years old sometimes feel uncomfortable on the journey. It can be pretty daunting when the train gets crowded, you have strangers pressing in around you if having to stand, I worry about all the bags I am carrying etc. I'd also consider that children of that age may want to take entertainment to pass the time - do they have iPhones, smartphones, iPods etc? They may be more vulnerable to theft.

You would also have to consider how you would handle changes to the schedule e.g. train needs to divert and the children might need to change trains at another station.

A no from me!

onlyroz

A sensible 13-year-old, no probs. Not sure about the 10-year-old though.

Spendless

My SIL refused to let neice do a train journey alone when she was 16 and had finished yr 11, which was a straight thru journey with 1 or 2 stops from where her dad lives in Gloucestershire to Yorkshire cos sil felt she wasn't 'old' enough. I always thought that mad, considering neice was old enough to work f-time.

In your case *possibly* I would. Is the journey straight thru? Would they be 'aware' enough not to get off at the wrong stop by accident? Would they know to approach the staff for help in the event of a problem? Would DS concentrate and not do daft things? Would they bicker on the journey leading to probs?

joannaspanner

I'd say no. Just to be safe.

timbo58

Check with the TOC (Train company) some have rules on how young an unaccompanied minor can be.
Remember a long train journey can stop at dozens of places, I used to be an Intercity guard and on a quiet train would often put unaccompanied minors in the 1st class close to the buffet so catering staff and myself could keep an eye on them.
However this is not practical on busier trains, nowadays there are less and less buffet cars in any case and staff certainly don't have the spare time to do this.

I wouldn't recommend leaving Children under 15 to travel alone certainly not with younger siblings to care for, sorry.

AllyS

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Yup it is a straight journey, no changes or stops. Dad will meet them at Waterloo, so he can wake them up if need be (dependent on if you can still buy platform tickets?).

They will be doing the alternative journey to everyone else, e.g. most people will be coming home from London to Devon on a Friday, they will be travelling from Devon to London.

Coach in the holidays would be fine, but not at a weekend, it will take too long, but thanks for the idea

I would probably not allow them to take any electrical entertainment, we used to live in a bad area so they know people will steal from them and why they would steal. They both like reading and playing games, they can do their homework too (mean mum I am) so that would be ok. DS would probably sleep anyway.

DD would have no problems speaking to staff member, pulling emergency cord if she thought there was a threat, very sensible girl, probably more sensible than me sometimes!

I won't do it till September (DS in year 6) I am going up in August to see my friends, but the children will already be there, but I can train the journey home with them. But I have no issue travelling up a couple of times with them, great excuse to see more of my friends

BugglyB

If they are travelling at weekends it is sometimes no more expensive to go on 1st class which would be safer for them I think. I think they would be ok if they are sensible.

More important than other people may be how your 10 year old would behave, would he be silly or unsafe? You can't really put your 13 year old 'in charge' of him as its not fair on her.

Edit: just seen post about rail disruption which would be my main concern, if there was a rail replacement bus or a diversion or a delay. But you could be available to pick them up if there was any problems?

AllyS

Out of interest what age would be more acceptable? if DS was at secondary school? or never? Just interested that is all x