Kennington becomes a Zone 1/2 station as completion of Northern Line Extension approaches

13 May 2021
Change in fare zone ensures customers travelling to central London from new stations at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station will only pay a Zone 1 fare
"The Northern Line Extension will provide vital sustainable transport links to thousands of residents and businesses in Battersea and the surrounding areas, helping reduce carbon and improving air quality, and we thank local residents in Kennington, Battersea and Nine Elms for their patience throughout the work"
Andy Lord
Managing Director of London Underground

As part of preparations to open the Northern Line Extension this autumn, Kennington station will change from a Zone 2 station to a Zone 1/2 station from 16 May 2021.

This change, which was a condition of the funding agreement for the Northern Line Extension, will ensure that once the new step-free stations at Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms are open, customers travelling to and from central London will only pay a Zone 1 fare.

Customers who currently travel between Kennington and central London will also see their single pay as you go fare reduced to £2.40 regardless of what time they travel.

The fare zone change also means that those who travel from the station towards Balham, Tooting and Morden will also not pay any extra as a result of the extension.

Using pay as you go with contactless and Oyster, customers simply touch in and out, reducing the need to queue or buy tickets in the station.

They only pay for the journeys they make and with daily capping, they will always pay less than a Day Travelcard.

Work on the Northern Line Extension continues to progress, with Transport for London (TfL) now fully focused on the final commissioning of the new stations and assets. New photos showing the project's progress have been released today.

Trial operations phase

TfL has been successfully running test Northern line trains through the extension since Christmas and expects to move into the trial operations phase in the summer, ahead of the line opening in autumn.

Work on commissioning the new escalators and lifts for the stations will also be completed in the coming weeks.

Once open, the Northern Line Extension will improve transport links and public spaces in Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea, a designated regeneration area on the South Bank. Journey times from Nine Elms or Battersea to the West End or the City will, in some cases, be less than 15 minutes.

Andy Lord, Managing Director of London Underground, said: 'The Northern Line Extension will open up a whole new area of the capital, bringing the Tube to this part of London for the very first time.

'As more people return to the transport network, changing Kennington to a Zone 1/2 station will benefit local residents, ensuring that they get the best value fare no matter which direction they are travelling in.

'The Northern Line Extension will provide vital sustainable transport links to thousands of residents and businesses in Battersea and the surrounding areas, helping reduce carbon and improving air quality, and we thank local residents in Kennington, Battersea and Nine Elms for their patience throughout the work.'

Quicker and easier

Landscaping is progressing well at Kennington, where two ventilation shafts are located, with new road and pavement surfacing at the Green, trees planted, and work to install fencing at the park underway. TfL is on track to open the reinstated park areas in late summer.

The public areas around the new stations are also now being completed with work on new walking and cycling access through the railway arch by Nine Elms station, which will create a link to the Embassy Gardens area, due to open in advance of the new extension.

TfL has also recently opened up four new customer passageways between platforms within Kennington station, which is making changing between different branches of the Northern line at the station much quicker and easier for customers.

For more information about the Northern Line Extension, please visit tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/northern-line-extension

Notes to editors

  • Introducing these changes as part of scheduled fares changes on 16 May will ensure TfL is prepared for the opening of the extension, as well as allowing customers to benefit from cheaper Zone 1/2 fares for longer. It is required as part of the conditions linked to the funding of the Northern Line Extension, which places the two new stations within Zone 1, and has been anticipated for many years. By moving Kennington from Zone 2 to Zone 1/2, TfL can ensure that customers do not unnecessarily enter into and out of Zone 2 as part of any journey into Central London from these two new stations
  • The reclassification of Kennington station to Zone 1/2 was discussed and referenced within the Inspectors Report for the Transport and Works Act Order for the Northern Line Extension - https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/nle-inspectors-report.pdf. It was then agreed by the DfT, TfL and the Rail Delivery Group in summer 2020