Teens travelling by train alone - what contingency planning is sensible?

[TheBlackCatWithTheWhiteSpot]

2 DD’s age 16 and 13 would like to go and stay with grandparents in the summer holidays.
Grandparents have recently moved to the coast, we have not visited yet.

DC want to travel alone by train. It would be one train to our nearest city, which they are used to getting independently. Then a long distance train, 2 hours or so. Then change at another quite big station to another local train, 3 or 5 stops depending on if it’s a fast or slow train, grandad will meet them at the station.

I’m sure they will manage fine if all the connections work. Will try and book trains with plenty of time for changing platforms, and make sure they have booked seats. Just trying to work out best contingency plan for if any trains are delayed/cancelled/ connections missed. Are there any apps that can help with this sort of thing? How do you prepare your teens for more complicated, unfamiliar journeys?

Ours travelled together from younger than that and were fine. If you want to do contingency planning, just look up the next relevant trains from each station together in advance in case they miss a connection, and get them to write down the time. Other than that, they can ask station staff or ring you in any uncertainty. The commonest mistake ours sometimes made was to drain their phone batteries too early and become uncontactable, so maybe warn them about that too!

This.

Normally if a train is cancelled their tickets would be valid on other services & station staff would help them identify alternative trains. Just forewarn them that if trains have a problem (if there have been lots of delays or a line blocked for example) that the train companies sometimes remove the seat reservations so if they aren’t showing on the digital displays then people can sit anywhere. Those are worst case scenarios though.

Make sure they have a phone charger if tickets are on their phones, otherwise if they use their batteries up they are stuck!

Assume they already know how to look up departure platforms on boards. Also how to locate the right carriage by letter to get on and find their seat.

send them with plenty of snacks and a big drink.

Their grandad could always get the train to the second large station if that’s unfamiliar and accompany on the last leg?

They will be fine though, definitely good to get more independent.

Just download trainline app to their phones and yours.

I've always used the train line app when travelling by train. But am not a very regular traveller and there maybe a better one.

But if I remember rightly it updates in real time your train times and conction times, so tells you if there is a delay. Have a look.

Having a charger cable, a lot of trains now have charging points or a battery bank for changing their phones on the go would be a good idea.

The National Rail app is useful for seeing live departures from a particular station, which platform they'll be going from and whether there are any delays.

Trainline or National Rail apps have all the info, only problem is reception / wifi is sometimes patchy. They should download their QR code tickets, make sure they know how to show their railcards if they have them and how to read a platform service board. Charger or battery pack for their phone essential.

I’d def have done this at 16, js a bit different being in charge of a 13 yo sibling but if both are quite streetwise and keen and have phones and aforementioned apps then I think it’s doable.
could grandparents pick them up from the long distance train in extremis?

If there are changes then you can request assistance at those stations. We did when DD aged 13 was going 300 miles to visit grandparents alone.

But 2 of them, I wouldn't worry. They'll be fine.

I’m usually quite risk averse, but the only advice I’ve ever been moved to give the dc re train travel is don’t stand anywhere near the edge of the platform till the train’s in and watch your back! That was after seeing footage of a couple of people being shoved off tube platforms. Rare, I know, but horrific. I think rail travel is pretty safe, on the whole.

Are they familiar with reading station boards with all the details on? Make sure they know the end destination if the trains they are catching, because that’s what the boards will highlight.

I guess the only advice I can give for delayed or cancelled trains is not to panic. They may just have to wait a little longer on the station. Also, if there are delays, to let you know so you can alert grandad to pick them up later.

I always find it helpful to have water and snacks for long journeys. Not all trains have refreshments.

If it’s a long journey, have they got18-25 railcards to reduce the costs (you can buy them using Tesco vouchers also).

Mine were doing that from 13 and 11.
Make sure they've got food and drink and money for any onboard buffet. Remind them one always stays in the seat and don't leave their stuff.
My dad used to stand in the same place everytime the other end so that they knew where to find him if it was busy. Last stop before theirs I always text and nudged to be ready to get off

18-25 cards won't be valid as the OP has said her DC are 16 and 13.

Good tips about knowing the final destination and not draining phone batteries - I could definitely imagine them doing that!

Will get them to download the train line and national rail apps - they usually buy tickets with the local operator app.
Dd doesn’t have a railcard, so will get one before we book tickets.

Definitely have power packs for both phones too.

Make sure they know the name of the stop before they need to get off so that they can start getting ready in good time

Make sure they know not to leave luggage unattended. One stays with it while the other goes to the loo etc

18-25 railcards will be no use for a 13 and 15 year old!

but yes, get them a child’s fare. I always sent mine first class as well, for a child it’s not much more expensive, they get their food and drink, and it tends to bring them to the guard’s/conductor’s attention. Mine have always had a member of staff make sure they got where they were going once they realised they were lone u16’s- one got her off the train, through the station and waited with her to meet me when there was a major disruption around the station.

For my DS I made sure he had a slip of paper with this uncles phone number, address, the numbers or destinations of the trains he needed and a bit of cash. My main fear was he would break or lose his phone. I reminded him staff are there to help and he shouldn't hesitate to approach anyone. I also had a back up plan for meeting up, a time and very specifc place where they would wait by default. Uncles plan was text when 10 mins away from a big square, relying exclusively on the phone in a place where they would never find each other in a crowd without a phone. I insisted they give the name of a cafe where each party could wait for a while.

It will be a wonderful adventure for them!

Yes, I think phone batteries/chargers are really important so they can contact someone if needed.
Also providing you would allow your 13 year old to do it anyway and make it clear the 16year old is not responsible for the 13 year old then it sounds fine.

I would probably get a grandparent to meet at the big station then travel back together, but that's just me.

The 16-17 railcard willbe the best one for your eldest.
When mine have travelled on long train journeys with changes I made sure they had a charger and powerbank and kept an eye on the live stream on the train company app. I also check which platform they need to find for the next train.

Yes to take a charger and also a portable one. Tell them you can charge on a train. Tell them to watch where they are on Google maps and get up a couple of minutes before the station.

This sort of thing

https://amzn.to/4f5nqyE

Learn or take your phone number on a piece of paper.

Can they use google maps for journey plotting?

But really can you be contactable in case of cancelled trains? I would not necessarily expect them to work around cancelled trains themselves.

I always think it’s good to memorise a parents phone number in case their phones are lost or stolen. We tend to always assume phone will be with them. But losing phone is probably the situation they would most struggle with

My 15 year old has done a few train journeys recently ranging from 2-3 hours.

Trainline app is great as it tells them whether the train is on time/delayed etc and what platform they are arriving in and where the connecting train departs from. All quite simple really.

You can also track the train by downloading the app and watching it live! All trains I have been on recently have plugs now, so just remember a plug and charging cable. Great adventure!

I would do a bit of ‘what would you do if…’ with them, before they go.

What would you do if your train was delayed and you missed your connection?

What would you do if you dropped your phone and it broke?

What would you do if a person who made you uncomfortable came and tried to chat to you?

What would you do if there was major disruption and no trains at all, when in the middle part of the journey?

Travel app (like Trainline) so they can get live updates on their trains, what platform they need, and if they miss one they can look when the next one is.
A power pack so they can charge mobiles just in case there's nowhere to plug them in.
Emergency money just in case.
I'm sure they'll be fine, it'll be an adventure for them