What age for solo train travel (short journeys met at either end).

[piscofrisco]

Would you let a 13 year old and an 11 year old take a train for 20 mins on their own going one stop only? If a parent dropped up and picked up either end?
we have a situation that involves us driving 2 hours 45 mins round trip in a morning for school run and and hour and a half evening 3 days one week, 4 the alternative week. (Dh’s ex wife moved an hour away and refuses to do more then 25% of the travel to enable the current child care schedule for DSS’s). It’s obvs having a negative affect on our work, finances and exhaustion levels for us all. However we have found there is a fast train that takes 20 mins between our two towns that will cost a fiver each for them. She would have to get them her end (15 min drive for her). It seems a good solution but she is saying they are too young.
For ref they go into town with their friends when at mums house etc, they have phones with trackers, they are generally not silly kids.

This would be normal for London kids, but I can see children elsewhere/outside big cities might have fewer opportunities for this kind of independence. They'll be fine. Perhaps make sure one of them has a phone.

I was travelling from Reading to Penzance on my own aged 10, no mobile phone. Just put on the train at one end and met at the other. No it wasn't daily but it was a longer and higher risk journey.

My own son has been travelling on his own round the local area since about 10 or 11. If a child of 13 cannot do a 20 minute direct train journey, something has gone wrong with the parenting. In this case, I suspect it is the mum trying to exert control.

Of course. Provided they are happy with it and have phones to contact you if there is a problem. Ideally they'll have travelled by train a bit before so it is not new, but I don't think this is essential, especially not for a 13 year old.

Both my kids travelled to secondary school every day by train from age 11. They walked either end and were not met.

And at 13 DS wanted to go to a friend's birthday celebration which meant travelling to Cornwall on holiday slightly later than us. We were driving. He got the train by himself ( a few hours, one stop).

The mother is being ridiculous.

Definitely yes. My 10 year old went on a 2 hour train journey, I put him on one end and his older sibling met him the other. And then the opposite for the journey home. He had a mobile phone on him.

I can add an experience

last year on the Cambrian Coast two young boys were travelling alone but the guard was clearly keeping an eye out for them - he didnt need to as they got off at their station safely but the guard was making sure just in case

@EilishMcCandlish me too, doing the Reading to Penzance journey at that age to spend some of the holiday with family! Last time I went to Penzance there was a man putting his daughter on the train to be met by her gran there. He asked if she could sit with me - no problem and fortunately the seat next to mine wasn’t reserved. She was no trouble but said she was pleased to have the reassurance of someone with her going to the same destination, in case there were any problems.

At 12 years old DS was doing a 2 hour train journey with 3 stops to see his dad every other weekend. He was absolutely fine and seemed to enjoy the independence. I dropped him to the station and his dad collected him. No drama.