TKD wrote:
Well i'd love to get an answer to what i've been wondering for years
now. How come Watford Junction isn't in the travelcard zones when it is
nearer to london than say, Epping? It's even within the M25 area! I
used to think it was because Virgin stopped there but Virgin don't let
people travel to Watford from London.

The basic reasoning, as I understand it, is that Hertfordshire County
Council don't "pay in" to the TfL "pot", so the stations there aren't in
the Travelcard zones.

Essex County Council, meanwhile, *do* pay into the pot, which is why the
stations out to Epping are in Zone 6.

or Zone 5.

Typical local authority parsimony!
One little known fact about Watford is that it was planned in the
1930's for Watford to become part of the London 7 figure telephone area
in the early 1940's. This was not proceeded with, possibly because of
wartime priorities, and the plan was not revived after the war.