The reason why Watford stations are not included in Zone 6 of Transport for London (TfL) has been revealed, following a Freedom of Information request by a Lib Dem councillor.
Councillor Mark Hofman submitted the request to TfL, asking the policy for deciding what zone a railway station will be located in.
This comes after nearly 9,000 people signed a petition calling for the Watford stations to be moved into Zone 6 in favour of cheaper fares.
The response from TfL states there was no policy as such but that the “original zoning of stations was determined via the Travelcard Agreement which was agreed by TfL’s predecessor and the then Network South East division of British Rail in the 1980s”.
The response continued: “TfL has no plans to review the Travelcard zones nor to propose changes to the zoning of any stations on the TfL network.”
Commenting on the response, cllr Hofman said: “It is disgraceful that TfL won’t provide a reason why stations such as Watford Junction, Bushey, Watford High Street and Watford Metropolitan stations are in different zones despite being a few miles apart.
“They also refuse to tell us why long-suffering commuters continue to pay many hundreds of pounds more each year for their travel to London than passengers using stations such as Epping – which is in Zone 6 despite lying outside of the M25.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “TfL has no plans to make changes to the zoning of any stations in the TfL network. The Mayor is committed to keeping London’s fares as affordable as possible, while still ensuring TfL can continue to run clean, green and safe services and support London’s continued economic recovery, with pay-as-you-go on Oyster and contactless making it easy for customers to pay. Customers are able to use the Hopper fare for buses, as well as daily and weekly fare capping, alongside a wide range of travel concessions.”
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