At what age is it ok for a child to travel alone by train?

I have just had a conversation about this with a friend. When we were children we were much more independent than our GCs these days.
My DH had to get 3 buses to school aged 11 for instance.
Today though is it more risky for a child to travel alone?
I'm not sure I would be happy about it as there will be a change of train and would he be able to cope if things went wrong?

He will no doubt have a Mobile phone so if things go wrong he can call for help !!

At that age I regularly took a long train journey. No phones either.

Im sure a 13 year old will be fine, especially as he probably has a mobile phone. My eldest children used to visit their grandparents in Yorkshire - I’d put them on the train at Kings Cross and they’d get off in Leeds where my parents would meet them. I’d ask the guard to keep an eye. They were about 9 or 10 when we started doing this. Not sure I’d do it now as there aren’t guards vans any more, but I would if they were teeenagers. My younger son used to go on a train on his own to choir practice in London after school twice a week from the age of about 10.

My husband has just told me he used to travel on a bus( in the country) on his own at the age of six, returning from a piano lesson.

I suppose it all depends on what area you live in.
We couldn’t let my grandson use a train from her ( Southend)
the local scroats would have him stripped bare of his trainers, jacket, iPhone, Apple Watch before he got to Leigh on sea.
We’ve told him that if he wants to go out and about he has to ditch the designer gear. Ain’t ‘appening. ?

MerylStreep

I suppose it all depends on what area you live in.
We couldn’t let my grandson use a train from her ( Southend)
the local scroats would have him stripped bare of his trainers, jacket, iPhone, Apple Watch before he got to Leigh on sea.
We’ve told him that if he wants to go out and about he has to ditch the designer gear. Ain’t ‘appening. ?

Unfortunately that is so true.

My 12 y.o. GS travels too and from school by train. It's only two stops though as mum or dad take him to the main line station.
He was nervous at first but is fine with it now
It depends on the child if the route platform numbers are discussed and he"s happy then I would say it's ok

When I was 13 my parents would put me on the boat train from Germany to London where I would be met by a universal aunt and put back on a train to Hastings where I went to school. The only thing I worried about was that someone would discover the fags and booze hidden in my suitcase by my parents to give to my grandmother!
When I lived on a remote Scottish island my 2 daughters would spend the holidays with me and be returned to their father at the end of the holiday. I would take them on the car ferry and drive them to Inverness where they were put on the train to York with a picnic and some books. They were 9 & 11 at the first time. They were quite happy and other passengers would keep an eye on them. Though this was 40 years ago.
I’m hoping that my 10 year old granddaughter will soon be able to travel alone from London to Leeds.
I have a very intrepid friend who traveled all over the world. He would often take his children with him. I remember his 10 year old son exploring the Moscow underground system on his own.
Children need to be able to explore and do things on their own.

I know I travelled from the north west to the Isle of Wight as a 10 year old. A friend of my parents helped me cross London but I changed from train to ferry alone.
I had a book and was perfectly happy.
It was such a non-event that I can't remember it very well. Just know I did it.

I was used to buses at 10 as travelled 9 miles to school and back on 1, 2 or 3 busses (depending on the time and how much I wanted to walk).

My grandson is 13 and has been catching trams and using the train to visit friends for a couple of years now.

Bearing in mind my husband and a mate hitchhiker round Europe at 15... I do think times have changed but don't really understand why. The people were the same. Good and bad.
Now youngsters have phones too.

Whoops, my maths is dreadful! My daughters traveled alone 30 years ago not 40.

I wouldn't have thought twice years ago but nowadays I'd be mortified I'm afraid. It used to be bad enough when GS went out with his pals----and he's in his 30's !
I couldn't rest if I allowed young teens to travel a distance.

We live in a very different world today!

I travelled alone on a long bus route into London aged 8 years (1950s). My father walked a couple of miles every day to school alone through the woods aged 5-7 years (1920s). Today these things would be inconceivable. But it just shows what children are actually capable of.

It's not that the youngsters of today can't manage it, I'm sure they could, it's what or whom they might encounter on the way. I would want to be sure they knew exactly how to cope with any problems and feel confident they could deal with them.

Was discussing this very thing with a friend recently. She travelled across London daily to school from the age of eight. No changes. That was 70 years ago.

International students fly backwards and forwards across the world, alone, from the age of about 12 onwards. It is normal to them.

I would not allow my child to travel alone on a train until I had done the journey at least once in my company. I'd be pointing out information boards and other things I thought important do she would be a bit familiar with the "process" of changing platforms etc. To appear vulnerable or lacking confidence on a journey could be dodgy.

At the age of eight, in 1969 a relative of mine became a Choir Scholar at Durham Cathedral. He used to travel alone by train from the family home in Cornwall to Durham and vice versa.

I’m sure if they contact the rail company somebody can be assigned to escort him. A relative’s son flew to Canada to stay with his Grandmother at the age of 9. The flight attendants were wonderful to him and he had an amazing holiday.

I think 13 is fine as long as he’s confident and has plenty of information as to how to check platforms numbers and look at the timetable tv for any changes and how to ask if he’s unsure (at the train change)

From about the age of 12, I regularly travelled on the bus to our nearest city. It was only 9 miles, and I was often accompanied by my younger sister age 9. We went to the cinema or the swimming pool.
I let my daughter do the same at the same age.
We didn't have the train close by so that wasn't an option.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

When you book his ticket you can request assistance to make sure he as off at the right station and on to his connecting train. It's a free service

Thanks Grannyben, I didn’t know that. I will tell his parents.
I have also remembered that when I was 14 I travelled alone back from France after staying with my pen friend. I can’t recall the details now, except that it involved a ferry, I think , from Dieppe to Newhaven. Not sure what happened at each end, but it was fine.
I know most people have mobiles now, but as someone said, it could attract thieves. Good point about designer clothing being a risk, too.

3 years ago (age 14) our GD made the long journey from the South West to London, the planning went well, until the train suddenly terminated at Reading and everyone had to get off, there had been a fatality on the tracks, GD was distraught, we stayed on the mobile talking her thorough trying to find an information desk with someone to help her make her onward arrangements. She was stuck with hundreds of other people for hours.
It was very worrying and she was scared.
So, best laid plans and all that......

I would not feel comfortable with it I don't trust people now. I used to get the train to the Wirral to work and came across many unsavoury characters on trains. Drinking alcohol doing drugs without a care in the world and being abusive.