Picking up from Kings Cross at 10pm - anything I need to know?

[myndanot]

My 16yo is arriving at Kings Cross at 10pm next Saturday night after a trip to visit a friend. I want to pick him up by car (because I don't want him navigating across London late at night - he is not experienced enough). The station website says there is a pickup point in Pancras Rd. Drivers need to stay with the vehicle. There is no information about hefty charges, or maximum waiting times so I'm assuming that I can sit there and wait for him, even if the train is delayed. I am assuming there will be a space for me, and hoping it will be well lit (so I feel safe, as well as my son), and that my son will easily be able to find me by following signs within the station. Can anyone reassure me?

I'm wondering if the OP is outside London and the onward connections after 10pm wouldn't work out? If you're trying to get back to a town in Herts or Beds, late evening services would be a different matter.

It’s 2 mins max wait as others have said, AND more than 50% of the space is currently used as seating for restaurants.

As everyone says - they shd travel on by tube to somewhere easier.

And if you feel you just must do it, there will be space in the multi-storey car park (£15/hr I think?? Tho that seems insane when I write it!) Local streets w parking are not so salubrious

Wait for him at the top of Judd Street. It's a 5 minute walk from King's X and an easy place to stop and wait.

Sorry to derail, where I live there is no public transport after 9:30pm and this seems standard. Also I’ve looked at getting the train to Manchester airport from the local station and none get me there between 10am. If I lived in London is there public transport all night? Or is it just in some central places?

@Boredhimtodeath

Sorry to derail, where I live there is no public transport after 9:30pm and this seems standard. Also I’ve looked at getting the train to Manchester airport from the local station and none get me there between 10am. If I lived in London is there public transport all night? Or is it just in some central places?

Yeah, London is an entirely different game.

Yep public transport all night. Actually OP you might also be able to park on Caledonian Road - residents parking might not be in effect at 10 pm.

Boredhimtomdeath

There are night buses, and most other transport links keep going until at least midnight and some beyond. Last and first bus/tube times clearly displayed on bus stops and tube stations. However the night tube has stopped for the moment ( one guess as to why) .

As with all London travel your best bet is the TFL website.

I’d suggest you circle the area, then ask your child to call you when they reach station & to head for the Eurostar entrance/exit - the best postcode is the Great Northern Hotel

N1C 4TB - least confusing entrance/exit & you can drive right to it

Although your child is taking tube not Eurostar, he can follow Eurostar signs to get there from inside & won’t be waiting on street - it will still have people around at 10pm

PS - Kings cross is really nice now, if he’s late you could go shopping/get something to eat! There are many parts of London I don’t feel safe in but that is not one. It will be well lit & people will be about

Not the point of the thread but the difference between London public transport and most of the rest of the country was illustrated to me when I was watching some programme about teenage runaways in London and it said something about having to wait at London bus stations/transport hubs because the night buses 'only' ran every half an hour - there were people who would ride the night buses as they were warm, dry and safer than being on the streets.

Even though I live on the outskirts of another large city, every half an hour is about the best you can hope for in the daytime, and buses don't exist at all between about 11 pm and 5 am.

But I'm surprised that a 16 YO in London isn't fully experienced with using the tube, going to school, clubs, meeting friends etc.

When I've visited London for work, I've always felt perfectly safe even at 11 pm to midnight, because there are so many people just going around their daily business.

Our buses run 6.10am to 6.30pm, with an hourly service. Drive yourself, taxis or nuffin in the evening.
London is so different from most of the rest of the country. I suspect that is why you get people on here and on the news etc sometimes berating people for car use or giving their kids lifts. It's either that or stay in when there are no, or very limited public transport options. And no, we don't have Uber either.

When I used to pick DD up from KX, I parked in the car park in St Pancras and crossed the road to the station and waited for her at the turnstile. It was a few pounds. You sound quite nervous, OP, so this is what I recommend you do.

There is some on street free waiting, but I think it is something like 15 minutes, which is quite hard to intercept your DS's train. And that's if you can get it.

@brittleheadgirl

He's 16! You're doing him no favours whatsoever picking him up. Look at his route home before he leaves, you can put maps, bus/tube times etc on his phone and talk through the route times etc together. Give him the tools and confidence to get himself home - it's a valuable life lesson and something he should definitely be doing at his age!

100% agree. Stop infantilizing teenagers.

If DCs are luggage-free, they take the Piccadilly Line to Hatton Cross and I pick them up from there. It's a well-oiled machine for us now.

I mean, it’s possible but it won’t be fun. You’ll have to circle around a bit probably. I’d get him to get the tube somewhere easier to park.

I am local and often come out the wrong exit… not sure about parking fines as I often see cars waiting for quite a while.