Would you allow your 10yo on the train alone?

[MinnieMountain]

We’re thinking of letting DS get the train to his DGPs for the day without us.
He would be 10 and a half by the time we get round to it. Train is 20 minutes and he’d get off at the first stop.
Would you? He’s pretty sensible.

yes….as long as it was a manned station and GPs were meeting him on the platform. Make sure he would know what to do I f GPs weren’t waiting for him due to running late due to traffic parking etc. does he have a phone in case something goes awry?

It depends on the child, the train line, location, what experiences they've had previously being independent, and whether the child would know what to do in the event something went off plan.

Local line, well used but not busy service, adults would be there to meet at the other end and would be on time, child knows what do do if the grandparents are late, and knows which adults on the train to speak to in an emergency, and the child has already had age appropriate independence closer to home, I'd probably allow it.

Busy mainline or cross country services where 20minutes is quite a big distance, stations are bigger, probably not.

Local train on match day, when it's busy, or is known for rowdy weekend hen/stag dos, absolutely not.

Any doubts that they'd freeze if something deviated from plan or they've not had much independence closer to home, then no.

If there was an adult to put him on the right train, and someone to meet him off the train at the other end, it should be fine. I don't think I'd trust him to find the train alone, but lots kids get busses or trains independently to and from secondary school, who might only be a few months older.

As long he's had practice with an adult beforehand

Check the particular train operating company. LNER don't have a minimum age (but say they will call British Transport Police if concerned for a child's safety). C2C do - it's 12: https://www.c2c-online.co.uk/help_centre/tickets/at-what-age-can-children-travel-on-your-trains-unaccompanied-by-an-adult/

Will you be able to physically put him on the train and the grandparents be on the platform itself, i.e. there aren't ticket barriers?

Would he know what to do if he forgot to get off at the first stop? Would he remember all his stuff when leaving the train?

I'm assuming that there's a reason you don't just go with him the 20 min train journey and back again, is it to do with the frequency of the service or does he particularly want to do the journey alone?

Specifically Peterborough to Spalding. It’s a local line, not an express. DGPs would walk 10 minutes to meet him.

My child is 10. No I wouldn't

Not a ten year old and I have one who is pretty independent. I was on the train once where a man was raging up and down the carriages. The train stopped at next available station and police boarded but honestly, DD would have been terrified if she's been on her own. Different with planes where there are special rules and the air stewards look after them. On a train they have to fend for themselves and they just wouldn't have the maturity to deal with any unusual incidents.

No and I got told off by a woman on the bus for allowing him to go upstairs alone whilst I stay down 😂 apparently if pedos touch him it will be “my own fault” but no wouldn’t allow him to travel on a train alone

Yes I would if a local train and in daylight.

My DS is 11 and no I wouldn't. Though I know some people have very sensible children ... mine isn't so much

No I wouldn’t, I would possibly on a bus as the driver is visible and can intervene if there is any trouble. On a train you rarely see any staff so you are relying on random passengers to help out if anything goes wrong on the train.

if my 20yr old is in town at night and needs to get home I always say to get the bus as the driver is there whereas on a train it’s the driver who is in their cab and maybe one member of staff somewhere on the train,

Drivers wouldn’t get involved anyway where I am they never do! They tell you to call the police if you feel threatened so sorry but don’t expect drivers to step in they never do

Thanks everyone. We’ll leave it for a year or 2.
The idea came about because we were visiting yesterday and DS said he’d love to go round all the charity shops. Mine and DH’s idea of hell but DGPs would love it. So we’ll get the train with him one day and go for a walk for a few hours instead.

No way

If sensible absolutely. Mine have all got the train (Direct Leeds to Manchester) on their own aged 11. Which is further and more stops. Met at the other end.

Yes I would if grandparents met him on the platform .
My nearly 12 year old did a hour long train journey but we did put him under the care of the guard having checked first.

I absolutely would. He's sensible, it's one stop, he's being met at the other end. Im genuinely a bit baffled at the people who wouldn't.

I would, as long as he was happy to do it.

Just as a note, I think Peterborough has ticket barriers? So he'd have to make his own way to the platform.

Yes and the bus.

We're Scottish so have the free bus pass so kids use that all the time.

Have taught them to use the train but there's not much call for it for the younger one.

It's pretty normal for kids to use the train to go to secondary school so he isn't that far off that age.

If he's sensible and has done the journey before it's OK.

It does @tribpot . We don’t have a car, so he’s used to getting the train from Peterborough.

A lot of 11 year olds catch the train to school (as well as buses at both ends) so if my 10 year old was sensible I'd have no problem with letting them travel alone.

No. I wouldn't. I don't think it's an awful idea though - I don't think people would draw breath at the thought. It's just that, for me, it's one missed step for your dc to get distracted or confused and not getting off in time before he's jettisoned to somewhere entirely different on his own without grandparents to intervene.

I think it's completely different to getting on a train with other friends or off to school with kids, including bigger ones, leading the way.