Request ID: FOI-3045-2223 Date published: 06 March 2023
You asked
Please can you share your policy for deciding what Transport for London fare zone a railway station will be located in. For example, why is Baker Street Underground station in TfL fare zone 1, Camden Town Underground station in zone 2, Epping Underground station in zone 6, Watford Underground station in zone 7 or Watford Junction railway station in a 'special' fare zone.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-3045-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16th February 2023 asking for information about fare zone policy.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Please can you share your policy for deciding what Transport for London fare zone a railway station will be located in. For example, why is Baker Street Underground station in TfL fare zone 1, Camden Town Underground station in zone 2, Epping Underground station in zone 6, Watford Underground station in zone 7 or Watford Junction railway station in a 'special' fare zone.”
There is no “policy” as such. 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. This agreement sets out the zone(s) in which each station is located, but given the passage of time we do not hold information as to how decisions for the zoning of individual stations were taken at that time.
There have been changes to the zoning of stations since then, decided on a case-by-case basis under the Travelcard Agreement. Any signatory to the Agreement can propose such a change, with any changes proposed requiring agreement from all of the other signatories. Once a change is proposed the Department for Transport approve or reject the proposal. This decision is made by the Secretary of State for Transport, on the basis of a business case and other wider policy and initiatives that will be considered at the time. Should a proposal not represent good value for money, it would be unlikely to get approval.
TfL has no plans to review the Travelcard zones nor to propose changes to the zoning of any stations on the TfL network.
If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
