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Original poster

Will DD14 be ok on a train from Leeds to london tomorrow?

48 replies

Newhouse76 · 24/08/2018 21:27

Ex DH has decided at the last minute that he can’t bring DD back to my flat in London as has been agreed ages ago.

He will now put her on the train from Leeds. DD does travel 30 minutes on the train to school but never this far and she will have a large suitcase.

He won’t pick up the phone - he is an ass Blush- so I don’t know if there is seat booked for heR.

Please talk me down 😧

OP posts:
argumentativefeminist · 24/08/2018 21:29

I think she'll be absolutely fine if she goes 30 minutes already, she already has a decent understanding of stations and tickets etc, it's just longer. Does she need to change?

Thesearepearls · 24/08/2018 21:30

Don't worry really don't

DS has been on the Leeds to London train lots - since he was about 14. Well since he was exactly 14. It'll be fine. It's straight through, she'll come out at King's Cross and you will be there to meet her. Honestly don't worry.

Mrsdarcyiwish10 · 24/08/2018 21:30

Depends where too, I read that Euston station is closed this weekend for track work and their telling people not to travel by train .

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DrDreReturns · 24/08/2018 21:33

She'll be fine. I got myself from Heathrow to Ipswich by myself at her age.

ThinkingCat · 24/08/2018 21:33

Does she have a mobile to keep in contact with you?

Thesearepearls · 24/08/2018 21:33

That's Euston - the Leeds trains come into King's Cross

She'll be fine, trust me

Plus I doubt that she'll need a booked seat. Even on a bank holiday weekend that service is not usually full to the point where people don't have seats

Plural · 24/08/2018 21:35

@Mrsdarcyiwish10 I thin the Leeds strains go to kings cross

KindergartenKop · 24/08/2018 21:35

She'll be ok. This will be a good character building experience!

Mrsdarcyiwish10 · 24/08/2018 21:37

Ah right, you can tell I'm not from London

celtiethree · 24/08/2018 21:38

It will be fine, she doesn’t have to change. Where does the train start? Talk through what she needs to do - can she move the suitcase herself if she hasn’t a seat booked and needs to move through carriages? If no seat aim to try the back of the train as a starting point. Worst case she will need to put case in luggage rack and stand close by. Make sure she knows to look at reserved seats in case the reservation is for further down the line do she can sit for part of the journey - assuming busy train and she has no seat. Does she have a phone to call you?

BikeRunSki · 24/08/2018 21:41

Leeds trains do go to King’s Cross.
It’s a very straightforward journey OP. Think of it as just a few stops ( something like Wakefield, Newark, Peterbough, London; but there could be others or different stops). It’s only a little over 2 hrs. You can track the progress of s train on The Trainline app.

Original poster
Newhouse76 · 24/08/2018 21:44

Thanks everyone I THINK he is putting her on at York. He mentioned a direct train getting into Kings Cross however at the time he hasn’t mentioned the only direct one is from York. He lives in between both.

Hope she is ok - I’m probably just panicking 😳

She has a phone so I can call her

OP posts:
TroubledLichen · 24/08/2018 21:45

She’ll be fine, presumably it’s a direct train and she has a phone?

ArthuriaAugustaDarcy · 24/08/2018 21:45

OP, she will be fine. My DS (who is a complete numpty) was taking himself to boarding school by that age, which involved travelling 200 miles by train, then crossing London and catching two more trains. He missed several, and didn't always end up in the right place, but he worked it all out in the end. DD took herself 400 miles to Cornwall on the train aged 13 (I put her on the train and booked a taxi to collect her at the other end to take her onwards - made sure she had the driver's numberplate in advance, so she knew it was the right cab, got her to call me when she got in it, etc).

Just make sure you have a plan for meeting your DD at KX, as she hasn't done it alone before. You could find out which platform she will arrive at, and meet her at the entrance to Platform X, say - or meet her at (eg) the row of seats by Simply Food or some other obvious place. Talk her through what to do if she doesn't have a reserved seat, and how to check the status of the other seats if she doesn't have a reservation. Other than that, she just has to sit there. If she did have a problem, other passengers will also help out (my hopeless DS never has his phone with him, so has several times had to borrow fellow passengers' phones to ring me to say he's lost his train ticket, debit card, etc, etc - not that there's much I can do about it....)

BertrandRussell · 24/08/2018 21:45

OP- what are you worried about? Try and isolate that- and see if you can find a way to minimise whatever risk you are perceiving.

Thesearepearls · 24/08/2018 21:46

Actually though my first posts on this thread were supportive and reassuring (I'm still being supportive but in a more robust way), I'm now going to address a point which I do feel is a real concern about this thread and many others on MN.

I have a concern about the way we infantilise our children nowadays. i cycled for miles as a kid/teenageer, took multiple trains and buses and was totally savvy about how to get myself from A to B.

This is a teenager with as far as we know no special educational needs and no health problems. She will be popped on the train at Leeds by her Dad, the train goes straight through and she will be collected at the other end by her Mum

If this is a problem for a 14YO then we are in a world of trouble.

Thesearepearls · 24/08/2018 21:48

By the way the York trains go straight through to King's Cross without any changes. It's a great line. She'll be fine.

BikeRunSki · 24/08/2018 21:50

I’ve guessed 11 am as a departure time tommorow - at this time York to London is direct, with no other stops.

Will DD14 be ok on a train from Leeds to london tomorrow?
Original poster
Newhouse76 · 24/08/2018 21:51

Gosh pearls i think it’s natural to worry when your children do something for the first time. She will have been up since 3am tomorow morning to catch a flight from Portugal to Glasgow with her father who will then drive her straight to York/Leeds for the train. She’ll be pretty shattered Hmm

OP posts:
MollysMummy2010 · 24/08/2018 21:52

I was going from Cornwall to London on the coach at twelve and also flying alone from thirteen. I know it is worrying but they will be fine. I had a friends son here the other night who is not allowed to go to the shop on his own and had to stay here while my eight year old went.

Original poster
Newhouse76 · 24/08/2018 21:52

But thanks everyone - you’ve been so helpful!!

OP posts:
argumentativefeminist · 24/08/2018 21:55

Hopefully there will be a few strapping and not too hungover young men coming back from Friday festival to help with her case 😂

marmiteloversunite · 24/08/2018 21:56

I always told my DDs when travelling at this age to move seats if they are sitting next to someone they feel uncomfortable about, even if it is a reserved seat. Also to ask the guard or go to the buffet for help.

CramptonHodnet · 24/08/2018 21:57

My cousin flew from her home in America to the UK on her own for the first time at age 14. Nerve-wracking but she made it in one piece to Heathrow, and home again.

Thesearepearls · 24/08/2018 21:58

I speak as someone who took a long-haul flight alone at the age of 8. Things were different then but for sure any capable or even incapable teenager should be able to take the Leeds/York train to London (being delivered and collected at both ends) cannot get into trouble.

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