Question about age rules

[AwesomeFace]

I saw that you have to be 16 to ride alone. I'm 15 but my birthday is Wednesday and I want to ride alone tomorrow. Will they let me? An adult will be buying my tickets and taking me to the station. Thanks for any replies.

 

[BCL]

Any passenger riding alone is supposed to have some form of ID even if only a school ID. You could be asked to produce ID onboard to document your age, although its never happened to me.

Your chances of being sent off are low, but not zero.

 

[Ryan]

The ID requirement only applies to people over the age of 18.

In the extremely unlikely case where you were asked your age, if you were to say that you were 16 and didn't have any ID on you, you likely wouldn't have an issue.

 

[fairviewroad]

To clarify, 15-year-olds are permitted to travel alone as "unaccompanied minors" in certain circumstances.

http://www.amtrak.com/unaccompanied-minors-policy

If you are traveling tomorrow, it is probably too late to start jumping through all the hoops, and your itinerary might

not even qualify, but just wanted to point out that it is potentially an option if you are worried about getting caught

violating Amtrak policy.

 

[BCL]

Any passenger riding alone is supposed to have some form of ID even if only a school ID. You could be asked to produce ID onboard to document your age, although its never happened to me.
Your chances of being sent off are low, but not zero.

Let me correct my previous comment. Anyone at least 16 needs to have ID to purchase a ticket in person. Of course one can get around this buy having someone else buy a ticket or purchasing online or at a Quik-Trak kiosk. Supposedly ID is required on board for someone at least 18, but I wouldn't necessarily count on all conductors to follow this.

I'm not even sure how they would be able to tell. It would also be a huge loophole for those who appear to be around 18 to claim they're under 18 if they have no ID.

 

[benjibear]

The burden of proof is probably on the rider. The one thing with age limits is how you act. I went to trade shows when I was 14 with my dad when I was suppose to be 16.The funny thing is they never asked when I was 14 or 15 but when I was 16, they asked and we were harassed about it from this old woman at the gate.

 

[SubwayNut]

I was going through my station photos from a trip on the Downeaster last weekend and according to a number of signs I saw, no unaccompanied 12-15 year old minors can be brought on the Downeaster at all. I thought that since Boston-North Station and Portland, ME are both staffed they would accept the paperwork and process an unaccompanied minor for travel between those two stations.

 

[the_traveler]

While true that both POR and BON are staffed, at BON there is only 1 Amtrak employee (who occupies the ticket window only) and no Red Caps either. And since that is the only Amtrak train that uses BON (all other trains depart from BOS or BBY), the unoccupied minor would have to transfer either by T or taxi on their own. That is the reason.

 

[SubwayNut]

So what if a minor was only going between Boston and Portland?

I guess the lack of BON staff is the reason and I've also read that that isn't an Amtrak staff member but NNEPRA contracts with the MBTA for staffed Amtrak ticket sales in North Station. I guess those kids going between Boston and Portland are forced back to the bus and take Concord Coaches (allows minors as young as 8) or Greyhound.