Potters Bar Forum

So with Boris pushing for all London main line rail to accept Oyster Pre Pay from May 2009, now is absolutly the time to lobby for rezoning Potters Bar Station into Zone 6.

But why should FCC want to do that? They must make a fortune from people travelling on the fast trains to Finsbury Park and Kings X. Lets face it...if we had to use the slow trains it'd be a pain, so the last thing we'd want is for them to move PB into Z6, but stop the fasts from calling at PB.

The case has to be made that PB is nowadays essentially in London, and that the train companies are unfairly hammering PB commuters by keeping it out of the London zones.

I'm going to email the following. 5 mins of effort now *might* mean considerable savings in the near future.

TFL: enquire@tfl.gov.uk
OYSTER: contactus@tube.tfl.gov.uk
FCC: customer.relations.fcc@firstgroup.com
GRANT SCHAPPS (Wel Hat MP): grant@shapps.com
JAMES CLAPPISON (Hertsmere MP): mark@tory-herts.org
MAYOR OF LONDON: mayor@london.gov.uk
LONDON TRAVELWATCH: enquiries@londontravelwatch.org.uk


Generally, i'm happy with the service provided by FCC. In my opinion the service IS better than when WAGN ran the line. The trains and stations are cleaner, and the puncuality is as good. OK, so the price has gone up, but that would have happened anyway.

However, £6 for an off peak return to Finsbury Park is way too much, especially as you then have to pay another £2 or so on Oyster Pre Pay to continue into town. If PB was in Zone 6, it'd mean £3.50 off peak single to town.

I had a reply from Grant Shapps. He's also going to write to Boris.

I've been thinking about this some more, and i'm wondering if they might extend Zones 7, 8, 9 and 10. They're currently the zones for the western extremities of the Metropolitan Line.

However, if these zones were treated like Zones 1-6, and made to surround London in outer circles, Potters Bar would easily fall into Zone 7. This would mean a single Oyster fare of £4.50 to Z1, which I think is perfectly reasonable....especially when you remember that your Pre Pay card will max out per day if you reach the cost of a One Day Travelcard.