Fare prices beyond the Oyster zone

[Wombat]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I'm writing this from the perspective of an Epsom resident (one stop beyond the Zone 6 boundary) but I'm sure it applies equally to many other towns.

No doubt most of you are familiar with the fare situation, but here's a brief summary of current charges:

Zone 1-2 £6.60
Zone 1-3 £7.70
Zone 1-4 £9.50
Zone 1-5 £11.20
Zone 1-6 £12.00

My travelcard (Epsom + London zones 1-6) costs £19.30. If I lived a couple of miles down the track in Ewell West, I would pay £12.00.

So you know all that, and you probably know that there are various rumblings of discontent from Epsom residents (and presumably others in a similar situation) from time to time. It seems to me that there are a few possibilities concerning funding of the difference:

a) Commuters inside the Oyster zone are making up the difference via funding to TfL (GLA council tax supplement?).

b) Commuters outside the Oyster zone are subsidising the fares of those within it.

c) Something else.

d) Any combination of the above.

I don't intend to grumble about it here. My question is: does anyone know which of the above is correct?

 

[MikeWh]

My understanding is that (a) is closest, although it is council tax payers rather than just commuters.

As to why Epsom hasn't already joined the Oyster area, either as a separate zone or one of zones 7, 8 or 9, perhaps you could ask your MP for his assistance.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Given a day return from Epsom to Ewell East is £4.30, it's a chunk of (a) but with a bigger lump of (e): GTR are price-gouging simply because they can.

And as we've seen with GoVia at Watford Junction, being on Oyster wouldn't stop the price-gouging either.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Well, as Mike W-H impiies, I think you will find that the MP for Epsom has been working hard on this issue for some time and is very much aware of the differential that you highlight. Fares inside the GLA area are generally lower than outside it, this is more a consequence of the way fares regulation has worked over time. There doubtless was a considerable gap at privatisation, but it looks like it may have been widened by Southern (the fares setter) using as much fares flex has it can to increase the Epsom fare (fares flex has not been open to TOCs for some years now and never was available on Travelcard fares). However, it is Government, through franchise payments to/from TOCs, that is making up the difference rather than TfL. They don't fund any of the TOCs is this area.

 

[Busaholic]

Well, as Mike W-H impiies, I think you will find that the MP for Epsom has been working hard on this issue for some time

Why would he change the habits of a lifetime?

 

[greatkingrat]

It's not quite that simple. If you look at paper tickets, the prices are

Zones 1-6 - 17.50 peak / 12.30 off-peak
Z1-6+Epsom - 19.30 peak / 13.00 off-peak

which is a reasonable differential for the extra stop travelled. The discrepancy comes because there is no longer any separate peak cap on Oyster and the off-peak cap applies all day.

I remember a few years ago it was the other way round. Southern had an online discount on travelcards, so you could buy a Southern Only travelcard from Epsom for less than the price of a normal zones 1-6 travelcard!

 

[Harbouring]

As a minor point the 19.30 fare as stated by the OP is set by SWR not Southern, there is still a Southern only fare at 18.40 for an anytime day travelcard.

 

[JonathanH]

The discrepancy comes because there is no longer any separate peak cap on Oyster and the off-peak cap applies all day.

No, not quite. Within the London zones, the Oystee cap is determined as one-fifth of the weekly travelcard cost to reduce fares for workers who don't do five days a week. It isn't an 'off-peak' cap.

The paper ticket is based on the fare prior to this adjustment being made.

Outside the zones, there is no impetus to reduce the fares to reflect the same kind of formula. The train operating companies would see a major fall in their income if this change were made.

In particular, note that the Oyster peak cap from Redhill is almost three times that from Coulsdon South.