Travelling with Children on the tube

[Ocean Mouse]

On Monday morning we were travelling from London Victoria station to Euston station on the Victoria line.

Behind us on the escalator were a couple with two children, probably early teens, and two large suitcases.

The parents boarded the train with the children following behind. Unfortunately before the children could board the doors closed and the train set off.

As you could imagine the parents were horrified!!!

They got off at the next station, Green Park, to try and retrieve said Children. Their plan was for the mother to wait on the platform at Green Park, in case the children had got on the next train (they are very frequent) whilst the father went back to Victoria in the hope they had waited to be recovered.

What I am trying to say is that it is important when travelling with children on the tube, particularly if your hands are fully occupied, to have a plan in place to deal with such a situation.

Make sure the children are with you, not behind or in front as you board the train.

Have a plan in place if something goes wrong.

If the child is left behind - wait on the platform to be recovered.

It the child gets on the train and the parents are left behind - get off at the next station and wait on the platform.

There are help points on the platforms and station staff and the British Transport Police (BTP)  will render assistance.

No idea how this particular disaster was resolved and just hope they were quickly reunited.

 

[Globaliser]

56 minutes ago, Ocean Mouse said:

Have a plan in place if something goes wrong.

 

This also applies to groups of adults. It doesn't really matter what the plan is, so long as you make a plan and everyone knows what it is. Personally, I prefer a uniform plan of meeting up again on the platform at the next station, whoever has been left behind.

 

The cause is preventable, anyway. Every time I see this happen (which is a lot), it's because someone's tried to rush onto a train at the last moment, just before it's going to close its doors and depart. Why the lemming-like compulsion to travel on the train that's already on the platform? Let it go. The next train usually won't be more than 2 or 3 minutes behind.

 

Anyway, it was hardly a "disaster". Early teens are not children any more. And there are plenty of children who are younger than that travelling unaccompanied on the Tube all the time.

[Ocean Mouse]

I didn't specify but these were American, possibly never travelled on the tube before. They looked equally horrified. And the wail of "my children" from the mother was heart wrenching

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, Ocean Mouse said:

I didn't specify but these were American, possibly never travelled on the tube before. They looked equally horrified. And the wail of "my children" from the mother was heart wrenching

Perhaps that was the problem: considering them as children rather than young adults. I really would have thought that, if they were that concerned about them, they might have adopted the obvious expedient of having one parent at the front and one at the back. Anyway, getting lost on the Underground is part of the fun of growing up, and they’ll have a tale to tell.

[Ocean Mouse]

9 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Perhaps that was the problem: considering them as children rather than young adults. I really would have thought that, if they were that concerned about them, they might have adopted the obvious expedient of having one parent at the front and one at the back. Anyway, getting lost on the Underground is part of the fun of growing up, and they’ll have a tale to tell.

I think that was my point.

[Joanne G.]

That happened to my older son on the Metro in Washington DC many years ago (before cell phones).  He boarded a train while I was still confirming it was the right train.  My younger son (a young teen) stayed with me.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a plan.  He waited at the next station, assuming we'd be on the next train, and my younger son and I stayed put, assuming he'd return to that station.   It all worked out, as my older son was college age, and he eventually took at taxi back to the hotel.

 

But we learned from it.  During several subsequent visits to NYC when we used the subways, we made a plan, and I made sure both my sons knew the name of the hotel where we were staying. 

 

We don't know the circumstances of the family in question, but if they were visitors not familiar with London or the tube, perhaps from a small town, I disagree that for young teens, getting separated from parents in a strange underground station in a strange city would be a fun adventure.  At least I know it wouldn't have been for my young teen son at the time.  

 

And yes, adults, too, need a plan.   I recently visited London with a visually impaired friend.  I looked out for her like a hawk in the tube stations, knowing she would really struggle finding her way around on her own.  

[Globaliser]

On 9/25/2024 at 3:45 PM, Joanne G. said:

I recently visited London with a visually impaired friend.  I looked out for her like a hawk in the tube stations, knowing she would really struggle finding her way around on her own.  

 

London Underground is now good at helping people with visual impairments if they're travelling on their own: station staff will escort them through the stations.

 

On 9/25/2024 at 3:22 PM, exlondoner said:

Perhaps that was the problem: considering them as children rather than young adults.

 

If it was actual children who were at risk of getting left behind, there's a decent chance that someone would have done something more anyway, whether that was the train operator or other passengers. But nobody's going to pay any attention if it's early teens who might be on their own (except maybe to try hard not to laugh at the wailing).

[SomewhereGirl]

I still cringe when I think of the smallish group excursion I took in St Petersburg that included a ride on the subway (to see the fancy stations).  We got on and one stop and off at the next, but the subway was packed and I cringe at how easy it would've been to get separated from the group with no way to communicate with guide.  Scary.

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, SomewhereGirl said:

I still cringe when I think of the smallish group excursion I took in St Petersburg that included a ride on the subway (to see the fancy stations).  We got on and one stop and off at the next, but the subway was packed and I cringe at how easy it would've been to get separated from the group with no way to communicate with guide.  Scary.

And very much more so in St. P for non Russian speakers, who may not even be able to read the alphabet, than for native speakers on the well signed London Underground.