Fair fares petition gets 2,000 signatures

5 hours ago

Martin HeathHertfordshire political reporter

The Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, has been involved in the campaign

Peter Taylor A group of 11 men and women outside Watford Junction railway station, holding small A4 paper signs which say "FAIR FARES FOR WATFORD", "REZONE WATFORD STATIONS" and "SIGN THE PETITION NOW". Most are wearing raincoats. The Watford Junction station sign is visible in the background. — The Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, has been involved in the campaign

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling for fair pricing for a town's railway stations.

The campaign, started by the Liberal Democrat party, calls for all of Watford's stations, which in either Zone 7 or 8, to be moved to Zone 6 of Transport for London's (TfL) fare map.

Campaigners say the current zoning means passengers in the Hertfordshire town are paying £1,000 more per year than people at other nearby stations.

TfL said it had no plans to rezone any of its stations.

At the moment, Watford's Metropolitan Line station is in Zone 7, while Watford High Street and nearby Bushey are listed as Zone 8.

Watford Junction station is in a Special Fares Zone.

The campaigners say a peak return journey from Watford Junction to central London costs about £22.20, which is nearly double the price paid by commuters in Epping in Essex, even though both are a similar distance out of the capital.

They say the disparity costs Watford commuters over £1,000 extra per year, compared to what the cost of journeys would be if the town was in Zone 6.

Campaigners say journeys from Watford Junction are far more expensive than similar trips from other stations

Google Five-storey brick-built building with Watford Junction on a white sign above the entrance. There are people on bicycles on the paved area in front of the station. There is a black railing separating the station from the road, on which a red car is stationary. — Campaigners say journeys from Watford Junction are far more expensive than similar trips from other stations

The Liberal Democrat Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, said: "Surely we want people to be using trains and the Met Line.

"They're only going to do that if it's affordable.

"You can't, on the one hand, say we want fewer people in cars and then having really expensive alternatives - there's just so many reasons why this has got to be looked at again."

A motion to Watford Borough Council from two Liberal Democrat councillors calls for the authority to support the rezoning campaign and ask TfL to launch an urgent independent review of the zoning of Watford's stations.

It also seeks a timetable for any rezoning.

Commuters from Bushey station, two miles from Watford, are also paying too much, according to campaigners

Bryn Holmes/Geograph An old brick-built railway station, with Bushey in white writing on an orange sign to the left. There are posters showing train times to the left and a small shop to the right, with a blue awning. — Commuters from Bushey station, two miles from Watford, are also paying too much, according to campaigners

A spokesperson for TfL said: "TfL has no plans to make changes to the zoning of any stations in the TfL network.

"The mayor [of London] is committed to keeping London's fares as affordable as possible, while still ensuring TfL can continue to run clean, green and safe services, with pay-as-you-go on Oyster and contactless making it easy for customers to pay.

"Customers are also able to use the Hopper fare for buses, as well as daily and weekly fare capping, alongside a wide range of travel concessions."

Inflation is likely to make people more concerned about any fare anomalies in the system.

However, people have been calling for Watford stations to be rezoned for many years, and, so far, TfL have not yielded.

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