Stuck in a train overnight.

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The Mirror and covered in other outlets

A pair of young girls feared missing were found cold and hungry on a train - after they were locked in overnight.

Bonnie Louise Grennan, 36, said daughter Amy, 12, and an unnamed friend, also 12, fell asleep while travelling back from a day out.

Their train then pulled into Helensburgh, Scotland, where they were trapped in forcing them to spend the night in the carriage, reports the Daily Record.

Worried Bonnie alerted the police as she was worried the duo had gone missing, before she was called by train staff the following day.

The girls were then calmed down and fed before being returned to their parents.

Mum-of-five Bonnie said "It begs the question - how could this happen?

Story continues

I confess with lockdown, etc, I did a quick check that this really was a British story (it is) and that it's current.   Well - it's from Scotland ... and it happened on a Friday evening after school which - my understanding makes it very recent or from last year or even older.    Not sure what all the various rules are in Scotland but the story does leave me wondering if they were being followed and if they were, the story would do well to confirm the fact.

[broadgage]

These days it does seem rather surprising that neither of the youngsters had a cellphone with which to call parents or the emergency services, especially if travelling alone.

Also, most trains, perhaps all trains these days have emergency egress facilities. The means of opening a door or breaking a window for emergency egress vary from one type of train to another, but are simple to use and well signed and should be readily understood and operable by 12 year olds.

Of course if the girls were lightly dressed and the weather bad, then remaining on the train might have been sensible, unless shelter or a public phone was known to be nearby.

And finally let us remember that although the girls had a fright, and the parents had a bigger fright, that no actual harm was done.

[broadgage]

Having reluctantly read the newspaper article and waded through all the adverts and clickbait, it seems that each girl had a cellphone but that both had flat batteries. Very poor planning in that case.

[ChrisB]

The parent(s) might be (re-)considering whether they might have been a tad young to be out in the evening on their own.

[TaplowGreen]

The parent(s) might be (re-)considering whether they might have been a tad young to be out in the evening on their own.

At what age is it acceptable for someone to be left locked in a train overnight?

[ChrisB]

12 is too young, in answer to both. YVMV (your view may vary)

[Lee]

12 is too young, in answer to both. YVMV (your view may vary)

ORLY? BTAIM IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) SMH TBH^▸ (to be honest)...

[broadgage]

The parent(s) might be (re-)considering whether they might have been a tad young to be out in the evening on their own.

At what age is it acceptable for someone to be left locked in a train overnight?

We do not know all the circumstances, but in my view it is in most circumstances acceptable for 12 year olds to travel by train.
Not sensible in known bad areas, or in the very late evening, but in most other circumstances it should be fine. A day out, with return in the EARLY evening is part of growing up.
A certain amount of pre planning is required, including the availability of a reliable cellphone.

No age is acceptable to be locked in a train, and an enquiry should be held as to how this happened.

[grahame]

12 is too young, in answer to both. YVMV (your view may vary)

ORLY? BTAIM IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) SMH TBH^▸ (to be honest)...

A different age, but I travelled alone by train to school considerably before I was 12.  Including using various alternative routes on days the trains were up the shoot.  Thinking to my son and daughter, I don't think our location / life style was such that they travelled alone by bus or train at 12, though both made significant journeys when they were not all that much older - Monchengladbach to Bermonsey, and a return trip from Easterton to Coventry;  having talked through that latter journey (with a change at New Street) I was actually more concerned with what was in Coventry. But then it come down to the individual young person.

[bobm]

As you say a different age but I travelled across town from the age of eight.  After a while I took delight in taking different routes and even the train on occasion.  It was also the time when they experimented with the changing of the clocks and it was still dark at 8.30am.

It also gave me the confidence to explore my town by bus in the holidays and learned a lot about the local geography. 

[broadgage]

I took the bus to school from age 11, and made the odd trip by train at age 11 or 12.
Most were very local, such as New Malden to Surbiton and New Malden to Kingston. But the odd much longer trip such as New Malden to South Kensington for the science museum, or to Sway in the new forest to visit a relative.

I feel that many parents these days, and society in general are over protective. Despite the odd very rare horrific attack on a child I don't think that the world today is actually any more dangerous than in the past.
And drifting only slightly off topic, let us remember that most attacks on children are by family friends and relatives and not by strangers in the street or on public transport.

[ChrisB]

All the responses so far indicate travelling around school/daytime. This doesn’t appear to have been the case here - I read that it was likely to have been evening time?

[bobm]

I feel that many parents these days, and society in general are over protective.

Possibly but in my experience it is also quite hard to persuade youngsters who have access to lifts in mum or dad’s taxi to use public transport.

[JayMac]

I walked alone to and from school aged 7 onward. A mile in each direction.

[ellendune]

I walked alone to and from school aged 7 onward. A mile in each direction.

So did I