Better rail fares for London

12:35pm Thursday 19th October 2006

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In a massive shake-up of rail fares, London's overground network is to adopt the much simpler zonal tickets used by the Tube.

At present there are over 330 train stations in the capital with a bewildering 97,300 fare combinations. But from January 2, the new structure will reduce fares to just 21 zone-to-zone tickets.

The change will pave the way for the roll-out of the Oyster pay-as-you-go smartcard across national rail in London.

RAIL ZONE MAP See a detailed map of the Tube-style zones

Brian Cooke, chair of the watchdog London Travelwatch, said the move will make travelling on more than one mode of transport "much easier".

Passengers will also save money, as they will be sold the "cheapest and most appropriate tickets" for their journey, Mr Cooke added.

"This is a great boost for London. Research shows that the complexity of fares is one of the barriers to greater use of the railway and we hope today's announcement will substantially remove that barrier."

Rail minister Tom Harris, who announced the change today, said the new system would be "simple and sensible".

"It will make train fares in different parts of London consistent with each other and will use the zones that travellers are already familiar with."

In zone 1, rail-only peak-time tickets will cost £1.80 for a single and £3.60 for a return. Across all six zones singles will be priced at £4.80 and returns £9.20.

When combined with a Tube ticket, zone 1 fares will be £4 for singles and £7.60 for returns. A zone 1-6 single will set you back £6.80 and a return £13.20.

"Short hops" in a single zone outside central London will cost £1.50 on trains, and £4 on Tube and rail combined.

Currently most rail stations do not accept Oyster pay-as-you-go cards as tickets. Rail companies previously resisted installing the technology.

In May, Transport for London finally agreed to foot the £19 million bill for fitting card readers and support systems at all overground stations in zones 1 to 6.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said it would "work with" the transport department to implement the new zonal-style fare structure.