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4th grade? That's 8-10 right? Unless you can present the problem to them in real world terms they will be able to relate to then you should present the problem in purely numeric terms.
A 9 year old living in a rural area may well never have experienced travelling by train. Alternatively they may have travelled on a train with an adult who would likely have taken care of details like reading the timetable and purchasing tickets.
In terms of it totally changing the maths: the mathematical question may remain the same, but the child's understanding of it may be hampered if an example designed to enhance their ability to relate to the problem instead adds confusion. If it was just a question of maths then they should have presented it as such. Burying the question in a real world situation is all very well, but if the child has no way to relate to that situation then they are being asked to abstract out the maths from a situation they don't understand.
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