Can 15-16 year old kids travel by train or bus on their own?
 

My son (16) and his friend (15) will need to travel from Geneva to Amsterdam with several stops on the way without accompanying adults. Are there any train or bus companies for which their age won't be a problem? They both look and act quite mature. My concern is that even if we buy tickets online for them, they won't be allowed to border a train/bus or the guy who will be checking the tickets during the ride later might see that they don't have an adult with them, check their passports, and kick them out of the train.

I was trying to check the websites that sell tickets. Some like sbb.ch are very clear that children under 18 cannot ride without adults. Other web site don't have this information. I wonder if their is some that will openly allow our kids to travel. Thanks for sharing your experience and information.

I don't understand why this would be a problem at all. School age children travel all the time on trains and buses in Europe. I am amazed if sbb are saying that. I would never have guessed that - I live and learn.

Throughout Europe, it's self-evident there can't be restrictions on children travelling, as two seconds on any train or bus around 0800 or 1600 will show. Getting on a plane or international train by ourselves in our early teens is a crucial right of passage, and many bus and train services depend heavily on unaccompanied children for their survival.

So fundamental is this convention to civilised society I simply don't believe the poster's assertion that "Some like sbb.ch are very clear that children under 18 cannot ride without adults."

I can't find any support for the assertion on the sbb.ch website. I find restrictions on some child discounts - but, however incomprehensible (Switzerland, after all isn't everyone's idea of a civilised society), that's not the same thing as the flat ban the poster alleges.

Where IS this ridiculous rule?

Well you definitely can travel between Belgium and france at 15 by bus train or plane. So either SBB is having medieval rules or OP misread.

However, crossing borders from non-Schengen into Schengen zone might be an issue, but not the traveling per se.

Hi illini16,

I took my first overnight train trip from Switzerland to Spain when I was 13 and accompanied by my sister, who was 15. Our parents were waiting for us in Spain. This was in 1968. Not sure if it's gotten more restrictive since then --

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I think you misread a fare rule. Sbb.ch has some complex kid fare rules but in any case they consider 16 adult- the 16 year old is allowed to accompany up to 8 kids under the age of 6 for free, for example. (Wow. I was only responsible for 2 6 year olds at that age when traveling and they were more than enough...)

Also saw that a certain fare is valid for 16 or under only when accompanied by a full far adult, so maybe that's the bit you saw? I think I can understand your confusion- I read through the fare choices and I'm not a hundred percent sure I understand which fare you'd buy each kid...but I can't figure out where you got 18 from.

All airlines have their own rules about traveling for under 16s. Some consider the 16-year old as an adult who can accompany the 15-year old. On Eurostar the 15-year old would need to be accompanied by someone 18+.

On regular commuter trains and busses within a country; no problem at all.

Geneva to Amsterdam is all within Schengen and they should be OK on trains and busses. Make sure they have documentation with them showing that they have your permission to travel on their own. There should normally be no border control between these countries, but it is still possible that there are checks on the train. They have become more vigilant in order to stop minors from travelling to Syria.

the few times I went by train from Geneva to France, my passport was always checked. Although you're right, Tulips, Switzerland is in the Schengenzone.

I don't know about the train, but the Swiss government clearly advises foreigners who are unaccompanied minors to have proper documents with them, including information on their parents and permission notes, etc.

This is hardly Medieval to be concerned about young children traveling internationally alone for many reasons. Recently, someone posted on Fodors telling everyone to be concerned whenever they see unaccompanied minors and to intervene and try to find out what they are doing, etc. They were trying to make it some humanitarian purpose regarding immigrants, but the advice was simply about unaccompanied minors, which I thought was odd myself.

This is the Swiss governments advice
<<To forestall any suspicion (e.g. abduction of children), the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) suggests that these minors carry a note of consent from their parents or custodian. This note should contain the particulars of the parents or custodian. In addition, it is recommended to include a copy of the parents' or custodian's valid passport or ID card with this note.>>

It's on this website
https://www.sem.admin.ch/content/sem....html#a_faq_12

This is really strange to me, since I don;t consider 15 or 16 to be young children. I would not expect kids this age to set off on round the world trips - but they should certainly be capable of a brief train or bus ride without anxiety on anyone's part.

In NYC only elementary school kids - or those with specific handicaps - ride school buses. For the majority of kids starting in middle school (11 years old?) they get a "bus pass". This gives them free pass on the public bus or subway to get to school - and no one thinks they are "small children" who can't cope with public transit.

I can understand that a parental note might be required for crossing national borders - but that is no reason the kids can't make such a simple trip.

Since they are crossing borders, they need a parental consent form. This is necessary until they are 18.
There's no need for this for domestic travel; lots of children take local trains and busses to get to school.

Children cannot travel at a child fare without an adult accompanying them. I expect that is what SBB means. If they have full fares there shouldn't be a problem.
Make sure they have parental consent with them as well to n's friends parents know they are travelling alone and have given permission for them to do so. Include a phone number just in case.

Alternatively put them on a plane.