To think 11 is not too young to travel on a train alone?

[Tellmeifimwrong]

Please settle a debate! Happy to hear all opinions.

Is 11 years old, starting y7 in Sept, too young to take a one hour train journey, without parents but with a slightly younger child? Put on at one end by an adult and met at the other end by an adult, with a phone and data, and train staff informed? No behavioural problems or SEN.

Well if there's two of them together, they can sit next to each other, which considerably reduces the risk of any weirdos sitting next to them.

10 and 11 year olds should be fine in these circumstances, as long as they are sensible kids.

Op I certainly don't think it's neglect.
I'm assuming the obvious that they'll have at least one phone - preferably one each in case they get separated or one faffs with games too much.

How does the child feel? Are they comfortable with doing it? Sometimes there are problems with trains and they can terminate early and you might have to change platforms or something. Do they feel ready to deal with a situation like that? In principle it's fine, but totally depends on the kid.

I think daily on the way to and from school, in school uniform and on a reasonably line used routinely by other pupils from the same school, after a trial run or two - 11yo absolutely fine. Will almost certainly form a group with others doing the same run, and the very identifiability of school uniform will give others some way of reporting (by ringing /emailing school) if there is an issue.

The same child in ‘home’ clothes, travelling on a Friday evening and only occasionally, in a very quiet train? Much less so.

The ‘silliness’ / squabbling aspect of 2 children - especially siblings - together would worry me too. Younger one winds up older one by hiding? They egg each other on to daft behaviour?

What's the purpose? To get to school with loads of other kids fine, just to save someone the trouble of escorting them, probably not

All very fair comments, thank you. Only the 11 year old is mine so obviously the parents of the 10 year old are ok with their decision. My child is well known for being mature/50 year old in 11 year old body which may be influencing their decision!

@Sugarfree23 intercity trains with the pull down windows on the doors were still in service at least 10 years ago.
Infact I think they might still be used on some GWR routes.

Will they send the 10 year old without your son or do they expect yours to buddy/mind their child.

Plenty of Year 7s at the grammar school two of my DDs went to travelled to school by train. They did not travel with their parents and I highly doubt that they would have wanted to. They would have been well under 16.

My take on this is that a reasonably sensible 11 year old should be fine on their own. I'd do the odd "dry run" with them first to make sure they knew the journey, where to get on/off/change trains etc.

I wouldn't make that 11 year old responsible for a younger child, even if that was a 10 year old. If the 10 year old is their sibling and your younger child then you have parental responsibility. You'll need to work something else out.

hi, it does really depend on purpose of journey and if they are familiar with train travel, and from where to where. if it's only an hour, can an adult not accompany them?? what happens if they miss their stop? my middle son did this on a shorter journey where he had to change (he was listening to music and forgot to get off...) he called up in a right panic, and I had to tell him on the phone what to do. This was a local train etc. he was in high school already, so probs 12 ish? Personally, if it was my kids, and they were not seasoned travellers, I wouldn't. Plus, they might get grief from other passengers if they are a bit loud or just because other people can be gits.

What train operating company would they be using? No need to give starting point / destination, just the company.

Some companies are worse than others for cancelling trains, terminating them part of the way, missing out stations if running late. Though it can happen on any route

Will they have to change trains? If the first one is late, they might miss the next one. Trains are very rarely held back to allow for connections.

If they do have to take a different train to the one intended, will their tickets be valid? They might not be, depending on the type of ticket and/or which train company runs the train they would take instead.

You will also need to check that no part of the journey is by bus instead of train, including on the day of travel

In London it's quite normal to see first year secondary school age children on buses, tubes or trains getting to school. OK maybe not for an hour, but they seem to be fine. 10 is not much different to 11.

I would not want any 11 yo to feel responsible for an unrelated 10yo. If the parents of the 10 yo is happy to send them alone and the presence of your child is a bonus, that’s one thing. If they only want to do it because your child is there - not so much.

It does also depend what they have with them. I have experience of journeys to junior Conservatoire, for example, where a child nay have multiple, possibly bully and certainly valuable instruments with them. That’s different again from a child with a school bag or a backpack with a couple of clean T shirts in it!

I'd let a sensible 11 yr old do it solo. I wouldn't expect them to take charge of a younger child for one hour on a train.

‘bulky’ not ‘bully’

I think 11 and 10 is too young with an hours train journey.

Mainly because last few trips we've had to deal with stag dos and delays and trains terminating early and arguments with seat reservations. Plus depends on train station getting off if you can be meet on platform these days.

I'd be more hopeful it was a regular journey they'd been doing for years together though even there I'd be happier if they were a tad older.

If they are friends you have to make sure they are to stick together and look out for each other.

Not one is older so more responsible they are equally responsible for themselves and each other.

I'd be happier with them going together than for the 11yo to be alone.

Oh so this is not in school uniform? I agree with another poster that it's different if it's a train line to a big grammar where there are lots of other kids doing the same journey. There's safety in numbers.

Seeing children that age get picked on and assaulted by teens, I'd say no. Back when I was 11, yes, but there's groups of kids who go out looking for trouble and they carry knives. As said, sexual harrasment is a possibility. A child might be mature, but they shouldn't be put in certain situations as we were in the 70/80's. They aren't character building. If the 10 year old looks young, the guard might decide to call the police, it's a safeguarding matter that's his responsibility.

Agree with this. It's not like they can just walk away if some weirdo starts hassling them.

I wouldn't do this as it may not work out fair to your 11 year old. What if your child wants to join in an after school club or activity but can't because they have to shepherd the 10 year old home?

I was the eldest and at the age of about 11 I remember the parents of my younger sister's friend saying that their child could only go swimming if I was going to go. I didn't want to go and said so. Fortunately my parents understood and put a stop to that notion with the other parents.

Your child also should not be made responsible for someone else's child.

It's true, mine do it. It's slightly different travelling on the tube at peak times, though, the chances of being trapped in a carriage alone with a weirdo is zero, really.
The crowds themselves make it safer.

2 sensible kids travelling for 1 hour, put on the train one end and collected at the other I would have no problems with. They have a phone, know what to do if they need help as you've drummed it into them so why not?

and train staff informed?
What does this mean, practically speaking? Train staff won't take responsibility for any passengers, young or not. Would there even be any staff on the train?