London Banter - View Single Post - Zone 6 conquers ten further Southern stations

Colin Rosenstiel · November 12th 05, 04:23 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article .com,
(AnnieslandJohn) wrote:

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.

You can blame that on the Metropolitan Green Belt, aimed at stopping
London going on sprawling after the War.

The Herbert report in the early 1960s did, however, advocate Watford
(and some other places like Epsom) becoming part of Greater London.

--
Colin Rosenstiel