Passenger railroad says action reflected ticket policies and safety concerns
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/04/02-police-officer-criticizes-amtrak-for-putting-13-year-old-off-train
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
Amtrak's online system should have red-flagged this and notified parent of necessity to board at a manned station or or not sold the ticket.
I see on Amtrak's website that they have ticket catagories by age, but I wonder if you don't open up the age pull-own box, if the default will be adult? You must put your birth date when buying airline tickets on-line and it will be checked twice at the airport.
I take Amtrak's side in this. They don't know if this child is running away or is being moved by bad people.
Amtrak turned her over to police. What else should Amtrak have done? Get her to Chicago so who knows who is going to pick her up?
As a parent of three grown daughters, I never, never, never would have put one of my daughters on a train without notifying the train personel who she was, where she was going, and wanting to be notified when she got to her destination.
York1 John
Tried this out and in selecting a 13 - 15 age ticket, there was no pop up or notification of the restrictions. Didn't complete the payment transitation, so maybe there is a pop-up at check-out. If there is no policy statement in the check-out process, poks on Amtrak's web designer.
Perhaps there should be a reference to Amtrak's policy for unaccompanied passengers under 16 years of age. If yo know where to look on the website, you can find it. However, if yo are unaware of the existence of the policy, why would you look for it?
In years past, many young children rode unaccompanied--but I have the impression that it is much more dangerous for them now thanit was back then.
Johnny
Quite true what you said Johnny, about this being a dangerous world.
Here in the DVD collection I've got "A Great Railroad at Work," a promotional film put out by the New Haven Railroad in 1941. Part of the film has a nine year old girl being put on the train by her parents in Boston for a visit to her grandmother in New York. The girls parents introduce her to the conductor with a "...you'll take care of her?" request. No problem, the girl boards and is soon on her way.
Now maybe this was just railroad PR at the time, but the world certainly has changed since then. It's a lot more dangerous than it was in 1941.
What happened? Well, I've got my theories but this isn't the place for them. I'm sure we've all got our own theories.
Wayne
The Conductor had no choice but to follow Amtrak's policies if he/she wanted to stay out of trouble. From a legal standpoint, Amtrak's abiding by its written policy is better than ignoring it or not having it followed all the time.
The police officer was probably out-of-line for personally critizing Amtrak in a public forum. He should have pursued the matter up his chain of command and try to have the department lodge a complaint against Amtrak.
If Amtrak's on-line ticketing procedure does not have their unaccompanied minor travel policy in the proper place, then they could have legal problems. They also need to provide a phone # or immediate on-line chat person for any questions regarding it.
Comments?
http://ontarionorthland.ca/en/unaccompanied-children-policy
blue streak 1Comments? http://ontarionorthland.ca/en/unaccompanied-children-policy
So a 13 year old on ONR is not considered a child.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
alphasIf Amtrak's on-line ticketing procedure does not have their unaccompanied minor travel policy in the proper place, then they could have legal problems. They also need to provide a phone # or immediate on-line chat person for any questions regarding it.
Amtrak can have whatever policy they want, but it is incumbent on them to inform the ticket-buying public on their website. As of just now, the website blocks purchase online for a 13-15 year old to board at Lapeer. Perhaps they have changed the way the site works since the incident in question?
Ahh--Children mature sooner in Canada than they do in the United States?
I wonder what VIA's policy is.
When my daughter was nine, we sent her alone on an airline to visit her grandparents in Atlanta.
We showed identification when she boarded the plane in New Orleans. We were required to give the airline the name and phone number of the person picking her up. We watched the boarding agent walk her onto the plane.
In Atlanta, an airline agent walked her off the plane to her grandparents. Even though my daughter's first impulse was to run and hug them, the agent held her hand until the grandparents produced IDs.
I imagine Amtrak has a more difficult job with the train stopping multiple times before reaching the destination, but I can't believe something could not be handled in a way the airline did.
With all that said, I still don't think this was an Amtrak issue. They had an underage child traveling alone. The police should have been called.
[quote user="BaltACD"]
blue streak 1 Comments? http://ontarionorthland.ca/en/unaccompanied-children-policy
Age of consent is 16 across Canada. It was 14 and remained unchanged since 1892 but has been 16 for over ten years now.
I am not so sure we aren't scaring ourselves to death. 13 year olds ride city transit everyday, unaccompanied. What's so different about taking a train?
I travelled from Long Island to Phila by train as a 13 year old. Was it a bit scary? Yep. NYP wasn't as nice as it is now. (and that's saying something...) No cell phones, no credit card. But, I had my wits about me. This wasn't the first time I'd been these places. Even had to negotiate reticketing to the next Metroliner as I'd missed my connection at Jamaica.
Not sure I'd have let my 13 year old kids to that, but with a friend, sure. The world can be a scary place. No travel is ever perfectly safe. But, it is almost always worth the risk.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
oltmanndI am not so sure we aren't scaring ourselves to death. 13 year olds ride city transit everyday, unaccompanied. What's so different about taking a train? I travelled from Long Island to Phila by train as a 13 year old. Was it a bit scary? Yep. NYP wasn't as nice as it is now. (and that's saying something...) No cell phones, no credit card. But, I had my wits about me. This wasn't the first time I'd been these places. Even had to negotiate reticketing to the next Metroliner as I'd missed my connection at Jamaica. Not sure I'd have let my 13 year old kids to that, but with a friend, sure. The world can be a scary place. No travel is ever perfectly safe. But, it is almost always worth the risk.
In major cities with public transportation systems, kids (1st grade on up) utilize these systems as their 'school bus'.
Children are not adults, however, it they get treated like they are infants they never develop the independance necessary to become a functioning adult.
A parents 'job' in raising children is to equip them with the skills required to face the world on their own - those who try to make their children dependent upon the parent are creating functional cripples.
[quote user="Miningman"]
Then I was misinformed back in 1990. I'm glad Canada got it up to 16. But we did see street kids in Toronto that we were told by local merchants were either 13 or 14. I was also amazed at how young some of the kids working full time seemed to be. I remember my wife wondered if they were even teenagers.
Deggesty Perhaps there should be a reference to Amtrak's policy for unaccompanied passengers under 16 years of age. If yo know where to look on the website, you can find it. However, if yo are unaware of the existence of the policy, why would you look for it? In years past, many young children rode unaccompanied--but I have the impression that it is much more dangerous for them now thanit was back then.
It's a common misconception that things were safer "back then". Ironically, statistically it's actually as safe or safer for kids now than it was in the past.
However, we're just alot more aware of danger now and alot more protective of kids. I have some concerns about the way media puts trajedy in front of our eyes but if it means we're taking a bit better care of a kids that could generally be a good thing.
I'm kind of ambivalent about this particular case.
Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad for Chicago Trainspotting and Budget Model Railroading.
EilifIt's a common misconception that things were safer "back then". Ironically, statistically it's actually as safe or safer for kids now than it was in the past. However, we're just alot more aware of danger now and alot more protective of kids.
Just wanted to give you a +1 on all of that. There have always been threatening elements in our society, we're just more likely to hear about every single instance now a days due to the way our media has evolved.
I don't share your ambivalence towards this specific case. I think the railroad did the smart thing by intervening. However as the story points out Amtrak has their own police presence.....dumping this onto a local police department appears lazy.
My guess is that the real police complaint is that Amtrak transfered responsibility for the safety of the individual to the Police. Police don't really want to be responsible for anything other than themselves.
BaltACDMy guess is that the real police complaint is that Amtrak transfered responsibility for the safety of the individual to the Police.
And that LaPeer Michigan does not have a Krispy Kreme, evidently.
When you go to book a minor on the Amtrak site ( or app in this case) you get the message ” call 1-800-USARAIL to make reservations for youth traveling alone”
the parents selected the adult ticket, pure and simple.
Yes Amtrak has a police department, but obviously it had no officers near by. So local law enforcement gets the call.
Policy was followed to the letter.
Convicted One BaltACD My guess is that the real police complaint is that Amtrak transfered responsibility for the safety of the individual to the Police. And that LaPeer Michigan does not have a Krispy Kreme, evidently.
BaltACD My guess is that the real police complaint is that Amtrak transfered responsibility for the safety of the individual to the Police.
It does have a individual I raced against at VIR last weekend, don't know about Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts.
Convicted OneAnd that LaPeer Michigan does not have a Krispy Kreme, evidently.
350 W. Genesee St.
Overmod350 W. Genesee St.
Ahh, good old Max's. I hear that their apple fritters are to-die-for.
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