Shoreditch High Street - UPDATE

After weeks of waiting I finally got a reply from TfL over why all of a sudden Shoreditch High Street has been re-branded from a Zone 2 to Zone 1 stations. The following is what TfL told me;

“Thank you for your email.
Yes, I can confirm that the Secretary of State (Department for Transport) has set out a condition that Shoreditch be a Zone 1 station as part of the funding deal that’s been agreed.
As with most of these type of agreements, they are complicated and involved and I'm not in a position to provide further details of the reasoning behind the decision.”

So although the price of using the East London Railway will bring in extra money, the addition cost means that the full extension gets built and built quickly. Now its just a case of seeing if TfL can get the cash for the Surrey Canal Road station.

The original story can be found here.

Shoreditch High Street

As have been reported it has now been announced that the new station at Shoreditch High Street has been confirmed as a Zone 1 station. Rumor has been abound that the station was going to be put into Zone 1. I recently contacted TfL press office to ask about this and was give the following information;

“Thank you for your feedback form.
Shoreditch High Street is a new station on the extended East London line and I can confirm that for fares purposes the station will be classed as a Zone 1 station.”

This means that using the line, as was initially though, as away to divert traffic away from the crowded lines in Zone 1 to provide relief on the Underground is now less of an incentive. The old Shoreditch station on the East London Line was in Zone 2 and it was thought that the whole line from Highbury & Islington to Brockley/New Cross should be inside Zone 2.

In fact the 2010 Tube map that TfL released in November 2006 showed the entire Overground network include the second phase of the East London Line Extension (ELLX) to Clapham Junction. This clearly showed that to travel from Clapham Junction all the way round to Highbury & Islington would have kept you in Zone 2, therefore giving you a cheap ticket to cross London without using Zone 1.

As well as increasing fares for TfL to gain there is also the fact this simplifies Oyster usage as the system doesn't have to work out which way you went as now a cross London journey using the ELLX means a Zone 1 trip.

The re-zoning of Shoreditch High Street also means there is potential now for the system to charge wrong for journeys made with Oyster as Clapham Junction to Highbury & Islington is still possible using only Zone 2 if you go via Willesden Junction and use the West London and North London Lines. Whether or not there is enough of an incentive to do this when you could use a single train remains to be seen.

What has been said about the zoning of this station is that it was a condition laid down my the DfT for funding of the ELLX phase 2 from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction, which if true could be a good reason why TfL accepted it to allow the South London Lines adding to the Overground network. So in the end there is worthwhile benefits to this.

Boris Opens Woolwich Arsenal

Boris Opens Woolwich Arsenal (DLR)
Originally uploaded by MackenzieBlu

Today was the offical opening of the latest DLR extension to Woolwich Arsenal. I got a press invite to the show and will be releasing my images tomorrow (sadly other commitments mean I can do them today). Oh and the extension opened SEVEN weeks early.

While I was there I got to speak with London Rail's MD Ian Brown. London Rail is basically incharge of the DLR and Overground as well as supporting TOC in the London area.

I asked him what happened with the new Overground platforms at Stratford over christmas and when were they going to be opened?

Basically it seems that Network Rail didnt have the signalling testing to complete the work there and at the moment TfL is awaiting a new possesion to try again and commission the link.

On the subject of the new 378 fleet for the Overground I was told that the first is expected in service by March this year so a little wait longer.

As for the Oyster on National Rail within zones 1-6, ATOC is meeting this week and this will be discussed and hopefully sorted for a deadline!

Now for The East London Line (ELLX) Phase Two to Clapham Junction. It seems the DfT have made an offer for this and TfL have responded with a counter offer thats currently with the DfT. Lets hope they don't wait too long. Ian also told me he was very keen to see this progress quickly as he feels its extremely important to have this up and running as soon as possible. And with Thameslink Programme affecting the stations this will serve Im not surprised.

Thats it for the exciting news. Tomorrow I will be adding images taken from day including Boris failing to open the gates with his Oyster and explaining why he said the sooner TfL take over SouthEastern the better. All will be revealed.