Surbiton and Epsom in 'battle' for rezoning stations

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Surbiton.com: December 4, 2015 - 4:30am

Kingston and Surbiton face a battle with neighbouring borough Epsom to see its two train stations rezoned.

MP for Kingston and Surbiton James Berry has been lobbying in Parliament to change Surbiton and Kingston stations from zone 6 to zone 5, a move that could save commuters £156 a year. But fellow Conservative MP Chris Grayling has started a similar campaign in his constituency, hoping to get the Oyster card into town and move Epsom station into London’s zone six. Currently Epsom is not in a London zone.

The Kingston re-zoning campaign, which was first proposed almost a decade ago by Liberal Democrat predecessor Ed Davey, now aims to see stations rezoned by 2017, when the new South West Trains contract is renegotiated. But with a limited budget surrounding re-zoning, Mr Berry has admitted his biggest hurdle would be working out how to pay the train company the annual £6m loss if the stations are reclassified.

In comparison, Mr Grayling’s campaign to get Epsom re-zoned in line with Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner, which is already in zone 6, is estimated to cost less and in the region of £1m. But Mr Grayling’s campaign has seen a similarly exhaustive struggle, with Epsom station originally set to move into a zone to get oyster cards in September 2015 before this was indefinitely delayed. He also plans to use the renegotiation of the South West Trains contract to state his case.

Last month, Mr Davey said the treasury had blocked his efforts in getting Kingston and Surbiton re-zoned as a “political measure”, but said Kingston’s new Tory MP would have no trouble securing the deal for the borough.

http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/kingston/14122801.Surbiton_and_Epsom_in__battl...

Surrey Comet | Kingston

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