Councillor Geoff Brighty, Malcolm Reid and Thomas Turrell have written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling MP, to submit their petition calling for Westcombe Park and Maze Hill railway stations from Zone 3 to Zone 2.
The petition highlights that North Greenwich underground station, which is a similar distance from central London, is Zone 2 whereas Westcombe Park and Maze Hill are both in Zone 3, meaning commuters from these stations are paying over £300 a year more for their commute. Geoff, Malcolm and Thomas argue that this creates an unfairness which puts extra pressure on North Greenwich station.
Conservative candidate for Blackheath Westcombe ward, Thomas Turrell, said “People living on Humber Road have to pay more for their commute than someone living in a new flat in Millennium Village even though they live a similar distance from Central London. These fare zones are out of date and our petition calls for this unfairness to be adjusted”.
Commuter and fellow candidate Malcolm Reid added “I remember campaigning against Labour’s decision to introduce fare zones, which saw the cost of season tickets rocket. Now those zones are out of date and commuters are left out of pocket. Financial impact aside, if people are heading to North Greenwich for cheaper travel then that adds to congestion and uses capacity on local buses – rezoning the stations will not only put money back into the pockets of commuters, but could also help improve air quality locally”.
You can read the text of Geoff, Malcolm and Thomas’s letter to the Secretary of State below –
Petition to Rezone Westcombe Park & Maze Hill Train Stations
Dear Mr Grayling,
Please find enclosed a petition signed by 328 commuters in the Westcombe park area. The petition calls for the rezoning of Westcombe Park railway station and Maze Hill railway station from zone 3 to zone 2.
Greenwich Town centre station and North Greenwich stations are both similar distances from central London and are in fare zone 2, whereas Westcombe Park and Maze Hill stations are both fare zone 3. This means commuters living one end of Greenwich are paying over £260 more for their commute then people living less than a mile away.
This not only creates unfairness but also adds pressure to other services such as buses and increases traffic demands towards North Greenwich – creating more congestion to the Woolwich road fly-over, already one of Europe’s most polluting areas. Rezoning these stations will also move the fare boundary to a more logical place, rather than running through Greenwich town centre it would be aligned to the A102.
As we are sure you will be aware, the Southeastern franchise expires at the end of this year, the petition calls for the rezoning to take place at the same time as the new franchise takes effect to avoid any compensation claims from Southeastern railways.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Councillor Geoff Brighty Malcolm Reid Thomas Turrell