Young Teenager Alone On Train

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DS is 14 and pretty sensible, his dad lives in Liverpool and wants him to travel via train to visit him in the summer holidays - it's a 3 hour ride from us, it will be a daytime journey tho but just I'm just worried and feel he's too young.

For a 14 year old I wouldn’t think twice.

Thanks so much everyone, me just worrying about the 6ft pfb!

If he has changes you can book him assistance. I did that for my disabled dd when she was 12 and had 3 changes.
If he's just going up the line with no changes, then I wouldn't worry at all.

Yes I agree with this. My mum wanted my ds to visit her when he was about 14 but I was concerned what would happen if he got thrown off the train somewhere, or if the train company decided to station skip (which still happens now). So we drove him part-way and met her en-route instead.

But the assistance is unreliable - I definitely wouldn't assume anyone would be where they were meant to be. Disabled people are left stranded all the time.

Was brilliant when dd used it. They carried all her stuff, made sure she had the right seat and fed her large amounts of chocolate, even though there was a strike and one train was cancelled so she ended up on another-they phoned ahead to tell the station which train and seat she was on.

From ten years old I travelled alone on the train York to Edinburgh. Used to love it.

If he can’t catch a train on his own at 14 you’ve got big problems

He’ll be fine! My dh travelled alone across Europe at 14 without a phone 😄. Day time journey with a fully charged phone - I wouldn’t think twice 😄

It’s fine. I went to Germany on my own at that age. Two planes and an overnight in London.

😂 My friend was put on an international flight by his mother to go and stay with his grandmother. Flight was about 3.5hrs. He was a babe-in-arms. I'm not joking. Doesn't mean it was ok though!

I'd be very happy for my 14 year old to get the train alone, or even younger. It was different in the past when there were closed compartments on trains. I remember as a 14 year old a particularly horrible journey when the compartment I was in emptied (Southampton football supporters who all got off at Salisbury) and a pervert who wanted to measure how tall I was for the rest of the journey to Bath came into the compartment instead.

He’ll love it don’t pester him though when he does it a call or text to say he’s got there is all you need

just run through any changes if there is any give him Trainline app it shows platform and delays

If the train has a “quiet” carriage, book him a seat there - much less likely to be football yo s or other problems there.

Not necessarily- sone kids are just more confident than others. My 14 y/o wouldn't feel confident doing that.

14?
Presuming he’s NT and that s a massive drip feed if he’s not, I wouldn’t see any issue tall.

Sodom and Gomorrah 😂
It's true though. I've spent a lot of my life on public transport and predators are quite commonplace.

Not all 14 year olds are equal though. Different skills, knowledge and experiences. I grew up in central London and was buzzing round London by myself at 8 (! Yes really!) and off to relatives in Cumbria by 14.

My own DC live much more rurally, the nearest train station is not close enough to be useful. DS13 can easily get the bus to school, but has very little experience of intercity rail travel at all.

I flew internationally at 14 and got myself to Cambridge from Heathrow.
My cousin said she would be out on the train alone aged six to go to her aunts house!
Presumably he'll have a phone with him?

I seriously wonder which decade some of the PP last travelled by long distance train in!!

This. I was sent to another continent to school on my own from the ahe of 11. Had to negotiate flights, coaches, trains, transfers and was expected to just crack on.

Train journey at 14? Of course this is OK