Train travel post age 16.
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Re: Train travel post age 16.
Thanks for the link Solimum.
NKM and Frantic Mum - we are in the same position as you and have just bought a hugely expensive season ticket for the train so that my Year 12 DS can go to school. He is in the sixth form at the same school ( nearest GS) as he has been at since Year 7. In Year 7 KCC determined that the train was the most appropriate method of transport to school for him. To say now that the only way he can have subsidised ( albeit still very expensive ) travel to school is on the bus is imo very unfair bearing in mind the buses are irregular, full up and always breaking down. KCC can't improve the bus service as the bus companies are privately owned. I can't understand why KCC can't do a deal with Southeastern to enable 16 - 18 year olds to travel to school at a scholar's rate ( like other Councils do with their local train company) should it be a more sensible method of travel. It should be easy and affordable to get to school imo. If we could have the same deal on the train as on the buses that would be so much fairer for all - and would free up some seats on the buses for those for whom the buses are the best way to travel!
If you click on the link that Solimum provided you can put in your postcode and go through to the KCC website where it provides all the information about travel. If you then click on one of the feedback emoticons ( I clicked " sad face") then you can give feedback on the trvel policy. The more of us who do it the better! Whether they will listen I don't know but it certainly made me feel better!
NKM and Frantic Mum - we are in the same position as you and have just bought a hugely expensive season ticket for the train so that my Year 12 DS can go to school. He is in the sixth form at the same school ( nearest GS) as he has been at since Year 7. In Year 7 KCC determined that the train was the most appropriate method of transport to school for him. To say now that the only way he can have subsidised ( albeit still very expensive ) travel to school is on the bus is imo very unfair bearing in mind the buses are irregular, full up and always breaking down. KCC can't improve the bus service as the bus companies are privately owned. I can't understand why KCC can't do a deal with Southeastern to enable 16 - 18 year olds to travel to school at a scholar's rate ( like other Councils do with their local train company) should it be a more sensible method of travel. It should be easy and affordable to get to school imo. If we could have the same deal on the train as on the buses that would be so much fairer for all - and would free up some seats on the buses for those for whom the buses are the best way to travel!
If you click on the link that Solimum provided you can put in your postcode and go through to the KCC website where it provides all the information about travel. If you then click on one of the feedback emoticons ( I clicked " sad face") then you can give feedback on the trvel policy. The more of us who do it the better! Whether they will listen I don't know but it certainly made me feel better!
Re: Train travel post age 16.
DS2 travels to school by bus. He has a Faresaver photocard, which ensures that he can buy child rate tickets even if the driver thinks he looks older than 15 ( 
). It also means that he can go on getting child rate fares up to the end of year 11 even though he will have turned 16 in the October. However, a year's worth of bus costs roughly twice as much as his sister's discounted rail ticket. The bus companies have no deals for sixth formers and as we do not fulfil the criteria for council assistance with post-16 fares, if he wants to stay at the same school, he will either have to pay full fare or walk - or, bizarrely, get to school by means of two trains with a five minute walk between the two and a ten to fifteen minute walk at the school end. I must admit it is tempting, though! If nothing else, the trains on the first (2 stop!) leg are more frequent than the buses into town so the mode of transport of choice for meeting up with friends at the weekend.
). It also means that he can go on getting child rate fares up to the end of year 11 even though he will have turned 16 in the October. However, a year's worth of bus costs roughly twice as much as his sister's discounted rail ticket. The bus companies have no deals for sixth formers and as we do not fulfil the criteria for council assistance with post-16 fares, if he wants to stay at the same school, he will either have to pay full fare or walk - or, bizarrely, get to school by means of two trains with a five minute walk between the two and a ten to fifteen minute walk at the school end. I must admit it is tempting, though! If nothing else, the trains on the first (2 stop!) leg are more frequent than the buses into town so the mode of transport of choice for meeting up with friends at the weekend.Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Re: Train travel post age 16.
The next expensive watershed is when your offspring reach the end of their final 16-25 railcard and train travel becomes a luxury again. Of course, hopefully by this time they have got a job and a car, or at least are experts at navigating the contortions of online advanced fare travel and splitting tickets to get the best deal....
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MedievalBabe
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Re: Train travel post age 16.
Round here over 16s get discounted prices on bus passes for public buses, but if you want a bus pass for a child well then adult price only. I complained and they said the student discount card was for post 16 as subsidised.