Can 15-16 year olds book solo travel on long distance trains?
- Thread starter Cal
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15 years olds can only travel during the day, between 5:30 am and 9:30 pm, they can't be onboard overnight. Further, they can only travel between staffed stations and have to checked in and out with the station agent.
16 year olds can travel without restriction.
https://www.amtrak.com/planning-booking/tickets-reservations/unaccompanied-minors.html
16 year olds can travel without restriction.
https://www.amtrak.com/planning-booking/tickets-reservations/unaccompanied-minors.html
Back in 2016, while travel west on Southwest Chief No. 3, our departure from Trinidad was delayed because it had been discovered that an unaccompanied 13-year-old minor had been put onboard the train by her mother as an adult and without the proper paperwork. We had to wait for local law enforcement to arrive to remove the minor girl from the train and place her into protective custody.
Devil's Advocate
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That’s hilariously dysfunctional and yet completely unsurprising. I was under ten years old when I first started traveling as a UOM but I’m surprised a Amtrak allows anyone under the age of majority to travel without a chaperone. Must be part of a charter rule, funding stipulation, or common carrier requirement.
RebelRider
Service Attendant
The unaccompanied minor policy is the same across all Amtrak services with no distinction between Northeast Corridor, state-supported or long distance trains. If they are under 16 and traveling on the Pacific Surfliner without an adult it's just not getting caught by the conductors.
When a child under the age of 16 is found onboard without a guardian, the correct course of action is to carry the child to their ticketed destination. CNOC must be contacted and they will attempt to reach the parents or guardian. The paperwork/wristband will be completed onboard or picked up downline by the conductors. If the child's ticketed destination is unstaffed, they will be carried to the next staffed station and be detrained into the custody of a station agent like any other unaccompanied minor.
You know, back during my teenage years, the PRR/Penn Central had something called "Ladies Days" discounts on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the Northeast Corridor trains. The ladies could take a day trip to New York and back for half fare. During the fall and spring school breaks, they extended the discount to kids 15 and under at half the already discounted price. Thus, I was able to ride up to New York by myself (from Philly, about a 90 minute to 2-hour ride at the time) during spring break to check out the dinosaur skeletons at the American Museum of Natural History, plus I was able to get a ride on the New York subways and compare them to the ones in Philadelphia.
Even without the discounts, I rode up and down the NEC by myself as a teenager, even as early as 10 years old. I think I was 15 when I rode the Metroliner during its first year of operation in 1969. I once rode to Atlantic City on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Line when I was 13. This is in addition to riding numerous PRR and Reading commuter trains, as well as the Norristown High Speed Line (starting at age 7) and the Philadelphia subways.
I also once flew down to see my grandmother in Florida unaccompanied, and at age 17, I flew out to Chicago by myself to look at a college. No having to deal with "unaccompanied minor" protocol, on the airlines, either. That was 1967 - 1971.
On the other hand, the only overnight train I rode as a teenager was the Denver Zephyr with a Scout group. I'm not sure whether I would have been able to do that ride by myself.
I'm sure glad I grew up in an era when they didn't have this nonsense about unaccompanied minors. I'm really glad I didn't have to ride with the Wristband of Shame (r) that would have marked me as some kind of dorky kid who can't do things my myself. I'm sort of sad that teenagers today can't do what I did without having to fill out a lot of paperwork and have chaperones drop them off and meet them at the station.
Even without the discounts, I rode up and down the NEC by myself as a teenager, even as early as 10 years old. I think I was 15 when I rode the Metroliner during its first year of operation in 1969. I once rode to Atlantic City on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Line when I was 13. This is in addition to riding numerous PRR and Reading commuter trains, as well as the Norristown High Speed Line (starting at age 7) and the Philadelphia subways.
I also once flew down to see my grandmother in Florida unaccompanied, and at age 17, I flew out to Chicago by myself to look at a college. No having to deal with "unaccompanied minor" protocol, on the airlines, either. That was 1967 - 1971.
On the other hand, the only overnight train I rode as a teenager was the Denver Zephyr with a Scout group. I'm not sure whether I would have been able to do that ride by myself.
I'm sure glad I grew up in an era when they didn't have this nonsense about unaccompanied minors. I'm really glad I didn't have to ride with the Wristband of Shame (r) that would have marked me as some kind of dorky kid who can't do things my myself. I'm sort of sad that teenagers today can't do what I did without having to fill out a lot of paperwork and have chaperones drop them off and meet them at the station.
I had skipped the last year of middle school/first year of high school, so I was only 17 when I started college. Rode the Empire Builder home for Christmas while still technically a minor (my birthday wasn't until the end of January). No fuss from Amtrak then (mid-1970s). Perhaps they figured anyone old enough to attend college was probably mature enough to handle a solo train ride?
cirdan
Engineer
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- Mar 30, 2011
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Are those scheduled hours or actual hours ? What happens if a train runs over time . I don’t think it’s very helpful to offload minors in a place other than their destination just because a train is late ? Even if custody is provided .
UserNameRequired
Lead Service Attendant
Reminds me of “The Major and the Minor” movie.
RebelRider
Service Attendant
The time limits apply to the train’s scheduled departure and arrival times. Once an unaccompanied minor is onboard, regardless of delay, they should be carried to their ticketed destination.
SubwayNut
Conductor
The age used to be 15 to travel unrestricted as an adult with 8 to 14 year old's able ride according to the unaccompanied minor policy between staffed stations. The policy changed back in 2011.
I remember taking the train to unstaffed stations even when I was younger than that. I remember a trip from NYP to Westerly round-trip from Sunday to Sunday (I was visiting a friend for a week) in about 2000 and there wasn't a problem that the station in Westerly was closed (which was only open on Weekdays at the time). I also think I took the train to Rutland, after Vermont made the station unstaffed when I was younger than 15, and I think on that trip took the train home from unstaffed Windsor, VT.
I traveled alone cross-country on Amtrak when I was 16 from Seattle, to New York, with stops to visit family in Chicago and Syracuse. I don't ever even remember being asked my age on that trip.
Finally, around 2006 a cousin and her friend were visiting us in New York from their boarding school in Brattleboro (unstaffed at the time) and I remember calling Amtrak to book their tickets back to Vermont and being told I need tickets for 2 15 year olds, at the time Kids were 15 and under, except unaccompanied minors had to pay full adult fare, I remember the agent having no qualms booking one of them at the Adult fare and the other at the half-price Kids fare.
I remember taking the train to unstaffed stations even when I was younger than that. I remember a trip from NYP to Westerly round-trip from Sunday to Sunday (I was visiting a friend for a week) in about 2000 and there wasn't a problem that the station in Westerly was closed (which was only open on Weekdays at the time). I also think I took the train to Rutland, after Vermont made the station unstaffed when I was younger than 15, and I think on that trip took the train home from unstaffed Windsor, VT.
I traveled alone cross-country on Amtrak when I was 16 from Seattle, to New York, with stops to visit family in Chicago and Syracuse. I don't ever even remember being asked my age on that trip.
Finally, around 2006 a cousin and her friend were visiting us in New York from their boarding school in Brattleboro (unstaffed at the time) and I remember calling Amtrak to book their tickets back to Vermont and being told I need tickets for 2 15 year olds, at the time Kids were 15 and under, except unaccompanied minors had to pay full adult fare, I remember the agent having no qualms booking one of them at the Adult fare and the other at the half-price Kids fare.
There are a fair number of college freshmen under 18, even without skipping a grade. I wasn't allowed to skip a grade in elementary school (by the school, not my parents) because I was already the smallest in my class and they thought I'd be teased too much. The joke was on them. Nerds were teased no matter their size. I still entered college out of state at 17 due to a November birthday (the kindergarten cutoff in Michigan at the time was November 30th for turning 5) and went everywhere unaccompanied. Nobody ever gave me a second glance. Of course, you didn't have to provide ID in those days to travel, which likely made all of the difference. In high school, my friends and I went to Canada all the time with no proof of parental permission. Those were the days.
The NEC seems ideal for teen travel during the summer. I suspect the unaccompanied minor rules are as much to protect other passengers from teens that exhibit bad behavior as they are to ensure the minors are okay.
Devil's Advocate
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These days it seems like college is treated more like a second high school because new students are so sheltered that they have no concept of street smarts or personal safety.
I'm pretty sure it's mostly about appeasing our infatuation with stranger danger but sometimes you have to look at the bright side.
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As a kid I used to ride on SP Passenger Trains between San Antonio and Alpine and Marfa TX by myself starting at age 10.( before then my Grandmother would accompany me for my Annual Summer Vacation in West Texas where my Grandfather was an SP Railroader for 40 years.)
I was riding on their Railroad Pass, which wasn't good on the Sunset Ltd., and only for a Seat in Coach, but since most of the Crews knew me, I was allowed to ride in the Lounge Car when space was available.
A couple of times I was even allowed to ride in the Engine ( Steam) and once in the Cab between Del Rio and Sanderson( in Daylight since the Train left San Antonio @ O-Dark-Thirty like today's Sunset) when Diesels were put on the Milk Runs.
My biggest thrill was when I was 12 my parents paid for a Section Seat/Bed, and I got to eat in the Diner where everything was a-la-Carte with a strict limit of $4Total for Breakfast and Lunch.
I was riding on their Railroad Pass, which wasn't good on the Sunset Ltd., and only for a Seat in Coach, but since most of the Crews knew me, I was allowed to ride in the Lounge Car when space was available.
A couple of times I was even allowed to ride in the Engine ( Steam) and once in the Cab between Del Rio and Sanderson( in Daylight since the Train left San Antonio @ O-Dark-Thirty like today's Sunset) when Diesels were put on the Milk Runs.
My biggest thrill was when I was 12 my parents paid for a Section Seat/Bed, and I got to eat in the Diner where everything was a-la-Carte with a strict limit of $4Total for Breakfast and Lunch.
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