Is Watford Junction in Zone 6?

[clagmonster]

There is a special Z1-Z9+WFJ Day Travelcard ticket that you can buy from all London Underground / Docklands Light Railway / Croydon Tram TVMs as well as National Rail TVMs with a "tickets from another station" feature (by selecting from Watford Junction to London Z1 - Z6). You should also be able to get it from all competent National Rail ticket offices.

Surely the tickets issued by BR are normal outboundary travelcards, thus must be used the 'correct' way round. The LT issued tickets presumably print with Watford Jn as its own zone.

 

[swt_passenger]

May as well ask this here as I'm visiting Harry Potter at some point this year..

I see that Watford Junction lies just outside Boundary Zone 9 according to the latest tube map.

Being super accurate, the map as drawn shows Watford Junction as 'beyond Zone 8'. Zone 9 doesn't reach that area, it is only about Amersham and Chesham in that corner of the map IYSWIM.

 

[GW43125]

That would only be valid on the slower London Overground trains, not on the faster London Midland services.

I'm pretty sure it's mentioned in the NRCoC that if one of the tickets is a zonal ticket then the stopping at that station rule doesn't apply either. But could be wrong.

--EDIT-- I see gnolife beat me to it

 

[GW43125]

Thanks for the information. Looking at a daily Watford Junction - London Zones 1-6 Travelcard (AAA LDN ZONES 7-9), I was concerned it would get swallowed by the barriers at Watford Junction as I would be using this Travelcard "in reverse", ie going into Watford Junction as opposed to starting from there. Does this not happen with this particular daily Travelcard? Can you go in and out of Watford Junction throughout the day if required?

I believe the rule is it acts as a return between the end of zone 6 and the end station of the ticket, ie only usable once. But could be wrong.

 

[MikeWh]

Being super accurate, the map as drawn shows Watford Junction as 'beyond Zone 8'. Zone 9 doesn't reach that area, it is only about Amersham and Chesham in that corner of the map IYSWIM.

You used to be right, but they've now added zones 7, 8 and 9 on any line where Oyster is valid outside the zones. See: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf

 

[yorkie]

I'm pretty sure it's mentioned in the NRCoC that if one of the tickets is a zonal ticket then the stopping at that station rule doesn't apply either. But could be wrong.

--EDIT-- I see gnolife beat me to it

The problem is that Watford High St is not on the direct West Coast Main Line line between Bushey and Watford Jn. I don't think I'd be wanting to have an argument over the sake of 10p (if comparing an Anytime Day Single), so I'd get the Bushey fare .

If doing a return at off peak times, then this discussion is moot as Boundary Zone 6 has a cheaper Off Peak Day Return (CDR) fare available.

 

[swt_passenger]

You used to be right, but they've now added zones 7, 8 and 9 on any line where Oyster is valid outside the zones. See: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf

Not all their maps are the same then, as I checked immediately before posting!
Eg this one: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf and the zoomable/movable one is the same.

But it does make a lot more sense to show that zone 9 with no stations in it, as it prevents people wrongly reaching the 'Watford Junction is in zone 9' conclusion that has come up many times before...

 

[PeakABoo]

Thanks again for all the information! Just to clarify, is the Watford Junction - London Zones 1-6 (AAA LDN ZONE 7-9) daily Travelcard you can buy from National Rail a different product to the Zone 1-9 + Watford Junction daily Travelcard that TFL advertise in their fare tables? They both seem to be the same price.

 

[bb21]

AIUI they are different. The National Rail one only allows one return journey into London and back (in that order). The TfL one allows unlimited journeys to/from Watford Junction.

 

[MKB]

However if you are not travelling to anywhere else in Z7 / Z8 / Z9 on the day (for example Amersham or Chesham etc) than your cheapest option would indeed be to buy a Z1-Z6 Day Travelcard for £12.30 and then a BZ6 to Watford North or BZ6 to Garston (again as they are cheaper than BZ6 to Watford Junction tickets) which would bring your total to £16.80.

I need to buy two adult tickets from central London to WFJ for off-peak travel using a Two-Together Railcard. Taking into account the advice above, I think my cheapest option is:

Epsom to London Z1-6, route Southern only, off-peak travelcard (ODT) - £8.10 each

+

BZ6 to Watford North, off-peak day return (CDR) - £2.95 each

I know how to buy the first of those online, but I can't find anywhere to buy the second. Can the second only be bought from a station?

 

[Hadders]

I need to buy two adult tickets from central London to WFJ for off-peak travel using a Two-Together Railcard. Taking into account the advice above, I think my cheapest option is:

Epsom to London Z1-6, route Southern only, off-peak travelcard (ODT) - £8.10 each

+

BZ6 to Watford North, off-peak day return (CDR) - £2.95 each

I know how to buy the first of those online, but I can't find anywhere to buy the second. Can the second only be bought from a station?

Yes, BZ tickets are only available from stations although a few TVMs in the London area do sell them.

 

[swt class 450]

I need to buy two adult tickets from central London to WFJ for off-peak travel using a Two-Together Railcard. Taking into account the advice above, I think my cheapest option is:

Epsom to London Z1-6, route Southern only, off-peak travelcard (ODT) - £8.10 each

+

BZ6 to Watford North, off-peak day return (CDR) - £2.95 each

I know how to buy the first of those online, but I can't find anywhere to buy the second. Can the second only be bought from a station?

You can buy any Boundary Zone tickets from any National Rail ticket office (any station [including Epsom] should be able to sell them). You can also buy them from the old (and now very rare) Southern Rail "Atos Shere" ticket machines (but not the new "Scheidt & Bachmann ST71" ones) and from all London Overground and TFL Rail ticket machines by using the "tickets from another station" button.

 

[philthetube]

May as well ask this here as I'm visiting Harry Potter at some point this year..

I see that Watford Junction lies just outside Boundary Zone 9 according to the latest tube map. If I have an Amersham Und - Zones 1-6 (AAA LDN Zones 7-9) Daily Travelcard, am I correct to assume this would not be valid all the way to Watford Junction and that a Boundary 6 - Watford Junction extension would also be required (they don't seem to have Boundary Zone 9 extensions)? If so, I will just buy a standard 1-6 Travelcard and Boundary 6 extension instead.

you could always jump off the train at Bushy and jump on a 142 or 258 bus to the junction, Z9 travelcard valid.

 

[MKB]

You can buy any Boundary Zone tickets from any National Rail ticket office (any station [including Epsom] should be able to sell them). You can also buy them from the old (and now very rare) Southern Rail "Atos Shere" ticket machines (but not the new "Scheidt & Bachmann ST71" ones) and from all London Overground and TFL Rail ticket machines by using the "tickets from another station" button.

Thanks for the replies.

Are you sure these machines can handle a Two-Together discount?

Just for the record, I'm not going anywhere near Epsom. My understanding is that's the cheapest origin to get a Two-Together discount on a Z1-6 Travelcard. Please correct me if that's not true!

 

[swt class 450]

Thanks for the replies.

Are you sure these machines can handle a Two-Together discount?

Just for the record, I'm not going anywhere near Epsom. My understanding is that's the cheapest origin to get a Two-Together discount on a Z1-6 Travelcard. Please correct me if that's not true!

Yes indeed. All these TVMs i mentioned that still have a "tickets from another station button" all allow you to buy Boundary Zone fares using a Two Together Railcard.

You are correct. Epsom to London Z1-Z6 (its Southern Only but as you may already know that only applies between Epsom and Ewell West - in Z1-Z6 its Any Permitted) is indeed the cheapest on any day of the week for £8.10. If you are travelling on the weekend you can also get a Radlett or Potters Bar or Cuffley to London Z1-Z6 for £8.10 (the same price as Epsom). Iver to London Z1-Z6 is the second cheapest for 10p more (£8.20). So yes the Epsom one (or Radlett or Potters Bar or Cuffley on the weekend) is the best option.

 

[Be3G]

Unless I'm missing something, there's no need to worry about outboundary origins when purchasing off-peak day travelcards using a Two Together railcard – it's only anytime travelcards that must start beyond the London zones.