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My pretty sensible 11 y.o. and her friends want to go for a 30 minute train ride this weekend but I can't find any guidance as to what is allowed.
Is it left to me to make a judgement call?
Please avoid responses along the lines of 'you're so negligent/over protective'
I think it's up to you to ensure that they are safely deposited and collected. There's guidelines on some kind of transport authority website iirc.
Our 11y/o gets the train to school everyday so hope its allowed 😕
Never did me and my brother any harm.
Although my Dad putting my brother on a train, aged 11, in Dieppe and expecting him to get to Paris and then find a connection to another station 60 miles the other side to meet a family we'd never seen and who he'd exchanged about 3 letters with one of the sons of always struck me as a bit too cavalier.
No travelling on the roof...
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... front, back or sides.
BTP don't seem to have a minimum:
http://www.btp.police.uk/advice_and_information/travelling_safely/unaccompanied_children.aspx
Some providers say they won't accept responsibility for under 12's, but that doesn't mean they can't do it. I reckon it's up to you - is the child mature enough?
FWIW - I [i]think[/i] I'd be OK with a mature 11yr old making a short journey alone. Where are they going?
Make sure she’s near the buffet cart
Thanks all. Sounds like a judgement call then, it's such a short ride with no changes or anything and we'll meet her at the other end so I'll likely go ahead.
What could possibly go wrong ...!
Just tell her not to play music on her mobile phone speaker and everything will be alright.
It's a standard thing here for kids to go from Ayrshire up to Glasgow (private school) - the kids are 11 or so upwards. On the flip side, they travel on the hourly train from the village, and are recognised by the locals that commute, so often have someone looking out for them in case, even if the kids are unaware
Thanks all. Sounds like a judgement call then, it's such a short ride with no changes or anything and we'll meet her at the other end so I'll likely go ahead.
What could possibly go wrong ...!
It *is* a judgement.
Our kids have taken trains with friends locally to Stirling since age 11 - I am more worried about who they meet in town than on the train....
At 13 our eldest two have done a solo* journey from Dunblane to Retford and back, Notts. They were just fine - and in fact it was a great learning experience. My middle one called almost into Edinburgh to say he had been playing a game on his phone, and wasn't sure if he had missed Edinburgh. I asked him what I would do if I wasn't sure about where I was - he said ask the person next to him on the table. So he did - and he was 5 mins from arrival... Speaking to him afterwards, he said he went from panic to 'ahh, I now know what to do...'
*solo = mrs_oab on the next train behind to Edinburgh for a shopping day, just in case the one change of train did not go well... As was, not an issue.