London transport bosses will be asked to reclassify stations in Watford to give commuters a fairer deal.
Currently stations across the borough of Watford sit in different transport zones – varying the price of fares, particularly for those commuting into London.
The Metropolitan Line Station is in Zone 7, Watford High Street and Bushey stations are in Zone 8 and Watford Junction Station is in Zone W.
Councillors want all the borough’s stations to be placed in the same zone – and they believe that should be Zone 6.
They argue that Watford is the same distance from its London station (Euston) as Epping is from Liverpool Street.
However Epping is classed as Zone 6 – and that means, they say, commuters from Epping can pay £1,000-a-year less to travel 16.5 miles into London than commuters from Watford.
At a meeting of Watford Council on Tuesday, councillors unanimously agreed that the current situation was “unfair”.
And they resolved that elected Mayor Peter Taylor should write to Transport for London and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, to ask that all stations in the borough of Watford should be classed as Zone 6.
Following the meeting, Cllr Ian Stotesbury – who proposed the motion – said: “At the moment Watford commuters are being ripped off.
“Commuters from Epping, which is 16.5 miles from London Liverpool Street, pay on average £1,400 less than Watford commuters who live 16.5 miles from London Euston.
“That simply isn’t fair. For a small place, it simply doesn’t make sense for Watford stations to be split across so many zones.
“Moving Watford stations into Zone 6 will be fairer and put money back in the pocket of Watford residents.”
Meanwhile Cllr Stotesbury and the Watford Liberal Democrats have launched a petition to rezone the Watford stations, which willl be presented to the London Assembly.
The petition can be signed here: http://www.watfordlibdems.org/watford_junction_rezone
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