London Banter - "South Bank to benefit from zone 1 stations"

Paul Corfield wrote on 28 May 2014 01:18:42 ...
On Tue, 27 May 2014 19:01:52 -0500,
wrote:

A Times Business report claims this is now an exalted status for an area.
Really?

'TfL is planning to site two new Northern Line stations in zone one of the
London transport network. TfL had previously planned to designate the new
stations as zone two, but after representations from developers, an
independent inspector gave a different recommendation.

The decision is likely to further boost the fortunes of the Nine Elms
Opportunity Area, which encompasses an area stretching from Vauxhall to
Battersea Power Station. Ravi Govindia, the leader of Wandsworth Council,
said: “Zone one status will draw more commercial occupiers to Battersea and
help us create 25,000 new jobs in this underused part of the riverside.”'

The paper emerged via twitter this evening as part of the TfL
submission to the planning enquiry.

http://www.persona.uk.com/nle/D-Proofs/TFL87.PDF

I find it extraordinary to base the choice of zone on some sort of
psychological assessment of people's feelings towards the development.
In any case, the logic of section 3 of the paper (Fares and revenue
implications) seems to be wrong in fact.

It says "There would be little impact upon the fares that passengers
using the NLE would pay if the stations were to be zoned as fare zone 1
as Travelcards are only sold with zone 1 & 2 combined." NOT TRUE: what
about zone 2 Travelcards, or zones 2-3 etc?

"A large proportion of NLE users is likely to be Travelcard users,
meaning that the change in the fare zone structure would have no impact
on them." NOT TRUE: If you live in, say, Tooting (zone 3) and get a
job in the new development in Battersea, commuting on the Northern Line,
changing at Kennington, the original plan to include Battersea in zone 2
would mean you would buy an annual Travelcard for zones 2-3 at £944.
But this ill-justified intention to put Battersea in zone 1 would mean
you'd have to pay for a zones 1-3 Travelcard at £1472, an increase of
£528 or nearly 56%. How can they claim this has "no impact"?

The impact on fares from Morden (zone 4) is even more dramatic: £1800
instead of £1040, an increase of £760 or 73%.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)