Boris told to put Croydon on zone 4 map

London Mayor Boris Johnson has been urged to boost Croydon’s economy by re-designating its town-centre train stations into a more affordable zone for commuters, shoppers and residents.

Sarah Jones, Labour’s candidate for Croydon Central and Steve Reed MP for Croydon North have launched a joint campaign to switch central Croydon train stations from zone 5 to zone 4 on the Transport for London (TfL) map.You can join the campaign at www.zone4croydon.com or twitter with #zone4croydon

The zone switch would cut fares for Croydon commuters, with savings of up to £336 a year for an annual Travelcard.  And it would make geographical sense, as the zone map carves out Croydon for no good reason other than to make more money.  Other stations further out than Croydon are already in zone 4.

Sarah Jones said: ‘Croydon is one of London’s key growth areas, highlighted in the Mayor’s own London plan.  With new housing and shopping developments, and the success of new small business and Tech City, Croydon is set to become a vibrant European city, the new capital of the South East.

‘Faced with all this opportunity, I call on the Mayor to make this change and put money back into the pockets of the hard working people of Croydon.”

Steve Reed MP said: “The Mayor of London must move these two Croydon stations into zone 4.  Croydon’s commuters are being ripped off by £336 a year simply because their local station is in zone 5.  Croydon is closer to Central London than many existing zone 4 stations.  It’s only fair that Croydon should get this change.”

East Croydon is in Zone 5 and is 9.3 miles from Trafalgar Square, the point from which distances are measured.  West Croydon, also in zone 5, is just 9 miles from the heart of London.  Chigwell station is 11.7 miles east of central London and Hounslow Central is 10.6 miles to the west, both further away than the two Croydon stations, and yet both are included in travel zone 4.

FACT FILE

1. A 7-day Travelcard covering zones 1-5 costs £53.40 while the cost for zones 1-4 is just £45, a difference of £8.40 a week. An annual Travelcard for zones 1-5 costs commuters £2136 while the equivalent cost for zones 1-4 is £336.00 a year less at £1,800.

2. Steve Reed and Sarah Jones are campaigning for East and West Croydon to be re-designated as zone 4/5 which would save commuters travelling up to Central London around £336 a year but would not adversely affect those travelling from other stations in the south of the borough to work in the town centre.