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

[Newhouse76]

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 - so I don’t know if there is seat booked for heR.

Please talk me down 😧

She will be fine. Her father will, hopefully, see her onto the correct train and you can meet her at KX. Get her to text you with details of what train she is on, so that you know what time she will arrive. Tell her to ask one of the guards to help her stow her luggage/get it off the train if it is too heavy for her to manage.
Fwiw, I do the London/Leeds return every fortnight, and the train crew are always, without fail, lovely and will be only too pleased to help.

Is it direct? I think that would be easy enough.

YY when my kids were younger they and their friends would travel to France unaccompanied (we live in France some of the time, when we can, work permitting). I'd pop over to Nice Airport and collect them. This happened from the age of 14 onwards. They always appeared with massive labels on them - the flight companies do this - but no harm came to them. I actually think that being able to travel alone is an enriching experience for a teenager. It makes them more confident.

Just a bit of a warning, with the races at York, general bank holiday madness and Euston being closed (so people who'd usually travel on the West Coast taking more circuitous routes) the East Coast mainline will be very busy tomorrow. If she doesn't have a seat booked, tell her to aim for coach H/V (unreserved) or there are usually some spare seats in Coach F. And the train crew will always be keen to help

She’ll be fine. I used to travel York - Kings Cross - home on the tube a few times a year, pre-mobile phone era from age 12 onwards, if anything it might be a confidence building exercise for future travel.

Try and find out if it's Cross Country. If it is, they do 10 minute reservation and you can reverse a seat last (ish) minute. I often get a train from Leeds to London but depart part way. It can be very busy. I wouldn't get that train without a seat reservation.

A night flight landing at 3am, four hour car journey to York or Leeds and then two hour rail travel to Kings X lugging her suitcase means your DD will be tired and grumpy. However the train journey is quick and simple.

I'm not surprised her F doesn't fancy an eight hour drive to London and return. I'm surprised he didn't suggest keeping her an extra night and then putting her on the train.

Direct just means no change, not necessarily non stop, so it may not be that york train.

For the Leeds train there are normally unreserved seats at the end of carriage B on weekdays.

You need a ticket to get through the barriers and on to the platforms at Leeds. There must be some way of getting a platform ticket I guess.

On that route at weekends from either Leeds or York you can pay £25 on the train to upgrade to first class which is generally emptier if that would be better.

Presumably she has a mobile and will message you once on?

Why would she need a platform ticket?

If he's dropping off at york, she might feel happier if he sees her on to the train from the platform.

It's york races today so station will be rammed and there may be a few drunken idiots. There will most like be a police presence too which is usual on race days.

It'll be fine though OP.

I'd be worried too OP, we're allowed to worry about our children without being accused of being over protective, posts like Thesearepearls irritate me, especially this comment
I have a concern about the way we infantilise our children nowadays.
Being concerned about your child doing something unexpected and unknown does not mean that you are not allowing them freedom, it just means that you are supporting them in developing their independence. If I hadn't helped my 14 yr old DS plan his first bus journey in detail and kept in touch with him, he'd never have done it. As it is, he's gained confidence and travels independently now, but he needed that support and guidance to take the first steps. I am not being over protective, I'm supporting and encouraging him.
OP I hope that your DD has a safe and successful journey.

Can I ask what you're worried about? I can understand if there were lots of changes or the possibility of missing the stop......

The layout at Leeds is a nightmare, single entry point then up and downstairs on a bridge to most platforms and so I was thinking you might want her dad to actually go on the platform with her to transport the suitcase!

She will be fine. Just the usual warnings - go to the loo first so you don't need to leave your luggage, move if someone is creepy and try to sit near families or people with small kids, make sure you both know your rendezvous point...

We were on a flight with a teen of around 14 from NY to London recently and I'm sure she got home safely!

You've kind of proved my point there, haven't you OnTopOfSpaghetti

You had to plan a bus journey for a 14YO?

Four decades ago this would be total nonsense. Even three decades ago. Now? Well increasingly parents are infantilising their children and treating them like 6 year olds when they're adolescents. Every 14YO should be able to catch a bus or a train without helicopter parents. Don't be daft.

"Just the usual warnings - go to the loo first so you don't need to leave your luggage, move if someone is creepy and try to sit near families or people with small kids,"

Would you really not go to them loo on a train?

So they dont have to leave their stuff or drag it all with them and have someone nick their seat.

I don't have a seedy mind, just a practical one!

Don't not people just leave their coat and bag on the seat?

...And some guys just move them on a busy train. Never underestimate the selfishness of some people. These are the people who nick your reserved seat and refuse to move.

@Thesearepearls thank you so much for calling me daft without knowing anything about my or my DS's individual circumstances. I am not going to explain myself to you, you've been very rude and have shown yourself to lack compassion, empathy or insight by your comments. Not every child develops at the same rate, however by the time my DS leaves home he will be a confident competent and capable young man ready to go out into the world. I'll do it my way in my own way and in my own time according to what is right for my DS and his needs. And no I'm not returning to this thread to read any more insults from you.
OP I hope your DD made it back OK, if you're still returning to this thread then you've done nothing wrong in worrying about her, its what loving caring parents do

I'm with thesearepearls. People went the the Somme at 14, down pits and in factories. Without cell phones!

Normal to worry. But really, it's a train ride in a safe place, in the daytime with lots of people. Life skills!

OnTopOfSpaghetti

I apologise for causing you offence. In my defence I did think that "don't be daft" was a kind of matey thing to say. Of course children with special educational needs need different treatment and much more handling with kid gloves. I appreciate that.

One of my closest friends has a son with cerebral palsy and she was far more pleased that he passed his driving test than when her daughter qualified as an anaesthetist. I didn't mean to be insensitive and I hope you're okay.

Oh ffs spaghetti how was pearls meant to know your child needed extra support, stop taking things to heart.

I thought your posts pearls were very informative. The train route from York or Leeds to Kings Cross is direct and easy. I'm sure the OP's teenager was completely fine.