Why is being 1 stop out of zone 6 so difficult?

eskimo26

I'm over the border in Surrey.

As i understand the epsom and epsom downs situation is due to a dispute between train companies, but why for example has Caterham been given 'exceptional status' to be a zone 6 station when it's no where near the boundary and there are many stations between it and the nearest zone 6 station?

It's to hilly to cycle there, you can just about get a car with a weak engine over it and i don't want to be bothering people to drop me off and pick me up. P:

People are saying the boundary has to be somewhere but why can't it be graduated based on journey time/distance rather then a massive hike the second you go from zone 6 to 7. I know which is fairer and less confusing.

I think things where ok when i was at uni but they have hammered the commuter belt with price hikes while sheltering london to the point where the price difference is now absurd.

At the end of the day it is london and it will warp everything around it, transport included, but nothing makes sense about the current system. It's confusing, messy and grossly unfair.

Oh also because we so close to london all the transport links are central london centric. We have the whole of south london between us and central but it is far, far easier to get into central which is direct and only takes 25/30 mins then to get to most of south london which is just under an hour and at least 1 or 2 changes.

Most of south london might as well be in Beijing for all its accessibility. Yet geographically it is drastically closer to us...

yorkie2

eskimo26 wrote: »

I'm over the border in Surrey.

As i understand the epsom and epsom downs situation is due to a dispute between train companies, but why for example has Caterham been given 'exceptional status' to be a zone 6 station when it's no where near the boundary and there are many stations between it and the nearest zone 6 station?

You want the Caterham fares to be higher priced?

They used to be, but they were lowered which makes sense because it's a rural branch line, and there are loads of empty seats on the branch and it makes sense to reduce the fares to levels that increase patronage.

eskimo26 wrote: »

It's to hilly to cycle there, you can just about get a car with a weak engine over it and i don't want to be bothering people to drop me off and pick me up. P:

Sounds like the train is a lot more convenient, so maybe it's worth paying for that convenience?

eskimo26 wrote: »

People are saying the boundary has to be somewhere but why can't it be graduated based on journey time/distance rather then a massive hike the second you go from zone 6 to 7. I know which is fairer and less confusing.

The fares do not have a 'massive hike' between Zone 6 and Zone 7.

eskimo26 wrote: »

I think things where ok when i was at uni but they have hammered the commuter belt with price hikes while sheltering london to the point where the price difference is now absurd.

Some fares are rather costly, and I agree it is absurd how high fares are generally, but you can often find ways to bring the costs down.

eskimo26 wrote: »

At the end of the day it is london and it will warp everything around it, transport included, but nothing makes sense about the current system. It's confusing, messy and grossly unfair.

I don't see too much wrong with the current Oyster system, except that Zones 7-9 should fully surround London, and the other lettered zones should be re-numbered 10 & 11 and also fully surround London, and the dreaded mixed mode including Zone 1 premium should be abolished. If I could have one more wish it would be for the LU/NR rates to be harmonised, but not in a way that causes any existing fares to increase.

I don't think the entire Oyster PAYG system is unfair, just a few tweaks as mentioned above would make it fairer, but they'll never happen!

eskimo26 wrote: »

Oh also because we so close to london all the transport links are central london centric. We have the whole of south london between us and central but it is far, far easier to get into central which is direct and only takes 25/30 mins then to get to most of south london which is just under an hour and at least 1 or 2 changes.

There should be more orbital railways, and there are some proposals for exactly that.

eskimo26

You want the Caterham fares to be higher priced?
They used to be, but they were lowered which makes sense because it's a rural branch line, and there are loads of empty seats on the branch and it makes sense to reduce the fares to levels that increase patronage.

I did think of this, on one hand it's strange but on the other hand it gives me an oppurtunity for big savings if i jump through a few hoops.

The fares do not have a 'massive hike' between Zone 6 and Zone 7.

I don't know but my journey today would have been £7 dearer if hadn't started at a zone 6 station.

Some fares are rather costly, and I agree it is absurd how high fares are generally, but you can often find ways to bring the costs down.

I don't see too much wrong with the current Oyster system, except that Zones 7-9 should fully surround London, and the other lettered zones should be re-numbered 10 & 11 and also fully surround London, and the dreaded mixed mode including Zone 1 premium should be abolished. If I could have one more wish it would be for the LU/NR rates to be harmonised, but not in a way that causes any existing fares to increase.

I don't think the entire Oyster PAYG system is unfair, just a few tweaks as mentioned above would make it fairer, but they'll never happen!

There should be more orbital railways, and there are some proposals for exactly that.

I would love to see more orbital railways because while it is slightly cheaper to get to south london, the inconvenience outways the savings imo.

I'd like to see it tweaked so the fair increase from zone 6 to 7 is more gradual, like i said before i understand what a great force london is but it very frustrating to be in my position. If the difference was £3 I would pay it but I can save £7 by going to zone 6, that's to drastic for one station [4 minutes] journey time imo.

martindow

Can you get tickets to the boundary of zone 6 along with zone 1-6 travelcards? Boundary tickets can only be bought for ticket offices I believe.

silvercar

It is all confusing. I live outside the London boundary but in zone 6.

A single from my station into central London is £6.80 but using oyster or contactless is only £3.60. Absolute bargain.

But then in January the one day off peak travelcard (£8.90) or oyster off peak cap (£8.50) goes and the cap will be £11.70.

[Deleted User]

Ah we get this; 5 minutes past Borehamwood (edge of zone 6) is Radlett - for some reason that's not in any zone, but travel further out and you get to Watford; which exists in zone 7.

I'm sure it's only been done as Radlett is quite a wealthy village. If you look at maps like this (http://cdn.londonist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/zones.jpg) places like Epping get to be in zone 6 but it squashes up in the north of London.

It's also a lot less rural than places such as Rickmansworth.

yorkie2

eskimo26 wrote: »

I don't know but my journey today would have been £7 dearer if hadn't started at a zone 6 station.

What journey was that?

eskimo26 wrote: »

I'd like to see it tweaked so the fair increase from zone 6 to 7 is more gradual, like i said before i understand what a great force london is but it very frustrating to be in my position. If the difference was £3 I would pay it but I can save £7 by going to zone 6, that's to drastic for one station [4 minutes] journey time imo.

I'm puzzled as to where Zone 7 comes into this?

The fare increase from Zone 6 to 7 is gradual, but you are not near any Zone 7 stations (see a map, or the list I posted above).

yorkie2

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Ah we get this; 5 minutes past Borehamwood (edge of zone 6) is Radlett - for some reason that's not in any zone, but travel further out and you get to Watford; which exists in zone 7.

Journey times do not influence Zones.

Watford is on a different line to Radlett.

But as I've said before, I do agree that stations surrounding London like Radlett should be in the London Zones as I believe the London Zones should be expanded up to Zone 10 to form a complete ring around London.

But it'll never happen!

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I'm sure it's only been done as Radlett is quite a wealthy village. If you look at maps like this (http://cdn.londonist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/zones.jpg) places like Epping get to be in zone 6 but it squashes up in the north of London.

It's also a lot less rural than places such as Rickmansworth.

It's also not done by how rural the place is. The reason Epping & Rickmansworth are in the London Zones is because of TfLs involvement, which in those specific cases is due to the lines being on London Underground.

jbuchanangb

I found this very interesting. I live one stop outside the Oyster Zone C, in Billericay (just past Shenfield). My daughter comes to visit from East Ham.

She stays the night so she needs to pay single fares. She brings her bike and takes the train from Manor Park to Shenfield. The National Rail Anytime single fare Manor Park to Shenfield is £7. The Oyster off peak single fare is £3.20.

Alternatively she could pay £9.50 for a ticket Manor Park to Billericay, or use the Oyster to Shenfield and pay £3.30 just for the one stop from Shenfield to Billericay, combined cost £6.50.

How stupid is all that? For £19 she could have a round trip all the way with National Rail. For £6.40 she does the journey with a bit of a bike ride at each end.

mgdavid

back to the OP (e26) - so are you talking about Sunbury to Kingston? Can you not use bus 216?