TfL have announced that Kennington will be moved from zone 2 to the boundary of zones 1 and 2 from next Sunday, May 16th. The move is necessary to enable the new zone 1 stations at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station to be connected to the rest of zone 1. The Northern line extension is on target to open later this year.
No fares will increase as a result of this change*. Passengers arriving from the south will still be charged up to zone 2, while those arriving from zone 1 will be charged the zone 1 only fare instead of the old zone 1-2 fare. Kennington to Elephant & Castle is the oddity as both stations are dual zoned with the boundary running along the line between them. In keeping with the no fares are increased pledge, this will still be charged as a zone 2 fare.
*Actually a small but significant number will. Railcard holders travelling from Kennington to other zone 1 stations between 1600-1900 will now pay the full £2.40 single rather than the discounted £1.60 as the evening peak into zone 1 discount only applies if you start outside zone 1.
Note: The contents of this post have been updated following receipt of the official TfL press release. The original post mentioned that the fare finder data had been updated on May 6th in error; this was corrected on May 11th.
My last Northbound journey from Kennington (Kennington – Leicester Square) was on 27 April and charged as a zone 2-1 journey, so the change must have happened since then.
There has for a while been a very noisy local campaign to rezone Oval (lots of posters around Oval a few years ago). I expect that may pick up again soon; not that they’ll get their way.
https://www.lambethlibdems.org.uk/ovalzone1
That’s very interesting. I thought fares only changed three times a year unless there was a silly error to correct.
If Oval get their way then I’d expect St John’s Wood to want the same treatment. 🙂
Well silly error it is!
The revised fare records in the database that powers fare finders had an effective date of 6th May rather than 16th May.
Hi Mike, unless I am misremembering the previous situation, it seems like TfL have also changed the evening peak rules when going Northbound from Kennington?
I think up until today’s change, only morning peak hours applied, so using a railcard discounted Oyster, the fare from Kennington to Z1 would be £1.60 in the evening peak. Now on your fare finder, it is showing that both morning and evening peak rules apply, increasing the cost to £2.40 for the same journey. Is that correct?
Yes, railcard holders in the evening peak are the losers in this re-zoning. It would be cheaper to travel from Oval in that situation.
Prior to this change, how would a journey from Borough to Leicester Square have been charged? As far as I can tell, TfL would not have been able to tell if you traveled via Kennington (Zone 2) or via London Bridge remaining wholly in Zone 1.
Usually journeys are charged by the cheapest route if more than one exists and you can’t differentiate between them.