Ongar Branch Fare Zone

[hummusn]

A little while back on the r/londonunderground subreddit, someone posted a picture of a 92TS car which had an exposed line diagram from the Ongar branch days (https://www.reddit.com/r/LondonUnderground/comments/1cooifl/old_central_line_map_seen_on_train/#lightbox) - whilst the stations up to Loughton had fare zones, there seemed to be no fare zone for Debden - Ongar. Did these stations have conventional fare zones, or was there a different ticketing situation for that end of the line?

[starlight73]

I found this amazing TfL website on Google Arts & Culture. This page takes you through a journey of the zonal system. Keep scrolling down to see the maps from 1984 and 1995    

Debden and further stations east were initially outside the zones system as of 1984. They were marked as outside the Greater London Council area. Presumably this means that point-to-point fares were used.

Stations north of Northwood on the Metropolitan line were also marked in this way. So presumably, if the Ongar branch survived it would have been incorporated into zones 7-9 (I don’t want to stray into FRIPAS territory though!)

I wasn’t around at this time, so maybe a forum member who remembers this would like to chip in!

[superteacher]

Here is a link which contains one of the first fare zone maps from the early 1980's. As you will see, anything east of Woodford was initially outside of the zones. Buckhurst Hill and Loughton were brought into the zones at a later date, followed by Debden and Epping (sometime after the closure of the Epping to Ongar section).

diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2017/05/stations-on-zone-boundaries.html

[Chris L]

The Central line stations were outside the GLC area in the County of Essex.

Higher fares were charged.

I believe Essex County Council later paid for the stations to be added to the zonal fares system.

[superteacher]

May 13, 2024 18:25:40 GMT Chris L said:

The Central line stations were outside the GLC area in the County of Essex.

Higher fares were charged.

I believe Essex County Council later paid for the stations to be added to the zonal fares system.

Roding Vallley, Chigwell and Grange Hill are also outside Greater London, yet these were included in the zonal system.

[xtmw]

These were re-zoned in 2007 from zone 5 to zone 4

[greatkingrat]

May 13, 2024 18:28:10 GMT superteacher said:

Roding Vallley, Chigwell and Grange Hill are also outside Greater London, yet these were included in the zonal system.

It would be awkward if those stations were outside the zones as then it would not be possible to travel to Hainault via Woodford without paying an additional fare.

[hummusn]

Thanks for all the replies! I've just learnt a lot of new stuff.

[superteacher]

May 13, 2024 21:18:58 GMT greatkingrat said:

May 13, 2024 18:28:10 GMT superteacher said:

Roding Vallley, Chigwell and Grange Hill are also outside Greater London, yet these were included in the zonal system.

It would be awkward if those stations were outside the zones as then it would not be possible to travel to Hainault via Woodford without paying an additional fare.

Agreed. I was just making the point that it wasn't as simple as the zonal system following the Greater London boundary.