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Andrew Gilligan: Rail Fares To Fall Tomorrow – Shock News

January 1, 2010 By Andrew Gilligan

SO there I was, all set to write an angry piece about Boris Johnson's "massive fare rises." (The fare changes happen tomorrow, by the way). But then I thought: you know, I'd better check the new fares, hadn't I?

And guess what? If I use my new Oyster card, the ticket I most often buy (an off-peak single from Greenwich to London) hasn't gone up at all. It has in fact fallen - by nearly 30 per cent, from £2.40 to £1.70. (If I travel in the peak, it will be £2.10 - still a reduction of 12.5 per cent.)

Maze Hill, Westcombe Park and Blackheath single fares fall even further, by up to 35%.

The ticket I occasionally buy (an off-peak return from Greenwich to London) hasn't gone up either. It too has fallen, by 3 per cent, from £3.50 to £3.40. Peak returns have fallen by 2 per cent, from £4.30 to £4.20.

Maze Hill, Westcombe Park and Blackheath return fares fall by 2.5 per cent.

The ticket I always used to buy before I got a bike (a one-day Travelcard) hasn't gone up. It is still £5.60. The tickets I would buy if I commuted to work by train - period Travelcards - haven't gone up. They are the same price, too. All this applies almost universally across the zones, by the way.

In other words, virtually every National Rail journey in Greater London will in fact be cheaper, in real terms, this year than it was last year.

It really does serve me right for believing this recent attempt by a declared political partisan to spin the change as "London's great train robbery" in which "voiceless commuters get screwed again."

Of course, if you look hard enough, like he does, you can find someone who's going to pay more. But you do have to look pretty hard (in this case, someone who decides to carry on buying off-peak returns on a paper ticket will indeed pay more).

Or you have to be deliberately misleading. Look, for instance, at that sly reference to evening peak single fares being higher than off-peak for the first time; no mention of the fact that even the evening peak fares will still be lower than they are now.

Look, to take another example, at the claim that "South London families" will "lose out in [the] Oyster upgrade." Well, it's true that a concession on the Tubes allowing under-10s to travel for free with an adult is not going to be extended to the National Rail network south of the river. But since we never had such a concession in the first place, it is not something that we have "lost in the Oyster upgrade," is it?

You have, I suppose, to admire the hours which must have been spent combing through the detail in order to find examples this obscure. But the desired political effect is likely to be rather short-term. Because from tomorrow, real train passengers will start paying real fares. And when almost all of them find that, contrary to the propaganda, their prices have not gone up, it's going to hurt the credibility of the wolf-cryers.

The benefits of Oyster are not just limited to lower fares, either. Never again will I have to allow five minutes to buy a ticket. Never again will I have time-consuming confrontations with penalty-fare Nazis at the other end.

There certainly are losers from tomorrow's fare changes - on the buses, where the single fare rises by 20 per cent. A headline about Greenwich's "great bus robbery" would have been honest - and might also have provided a genuine attack line about Boris's cynicism in holding down the fares of rail commuters while hammering bus passengers, who tend to be rather poorer and less Tory-voting.

But for rail users in general and Greenwich rail users in particular, this is a boon. Just remember your little piece of blue plastic.

Rail fares (Oyster) to London from...

Offpeak Peak Travelcard
Single Return Single Return 1 Day 7 Day
Greenwich was 2.40 3.50 2.40 4.30 5.60 25.80
Greenwich now 1.70 3.40 2.10 4.20 5.60 25.80
Maze Hill was 3.10 4.10 3.10 5.30 6.30 30.20
Maze Hill now 2.00 4.00 2.60 5.20 6.30 30.20
Westcombe Park was 3.10 4.10 3.10 5.30 6.30 30.20
Westcombe Park now 2.00 4.00 2.60 5.20 6.30 30.20
Blackheath was 3.10 4.10 3.10 5.30 6.30 30.20
Blackheath now 2.00 4.00 2.60 5.20 6.30 30.20

Filed Under: Andrew Gilligan Tagged With: Maze Hill, Train Station, Transport, Westcombe Park

Pay As You Go Oyster Arrives in Greenwich

November 23, 2009 By Darryl Chamberlain

Greenwich commuters will finally be able to use Oyster pay-as-you-go for rail journeys from 2 January, after years of negotiations between Transport for London and the capital's private rail operators.

But there's a sting in the tail for some rail passengers, with cheaper off-peak tickets withdrawn for those who don't use Oyster cards, and higher fares for all in the evening rush hour.

Many local passengers have been using Oyster on local rail services for some time, but because they have Travelcards loaded onto their tickets.

Now all passengers will be able to use the smartcards to pay for individual journeys, just as Tube and Docklands Light Railway users have done for the past six years. On the Greenwich line, this means the cards will be as valid as far out as Slade Green, on the edge of zone 6.

From 2 January, passengers who don't use Oyster cards will be charged a flat rate of £2.40 from Greenwich and other zone 2 stations to London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross or Cannon Street, with a return costing £4.30.

Those travelling from Maze Hill or Westcombe Park, in zone 3, will be charged £3.10 single, or £5.30 return.

But passengers who do use Oyster cards will be charged cheaper rates, with all journeys being charged as singles.

From Greenwich, passengers for central London will have to pay £2.10 if their journey takes place in the morning or evening rush hour - between 6.30am and 9.30am, or 4pm-7pm.

If their journey avoids those times, or is at weekends, then they'll be charged £1.70.

Oyster card holders from Maze Hill or Westcombe Park will pay £2.60 for a peak journey, or £2 off-peak.

The new system also means passengers can combine rail and Tube/DLR journeys. If their journey does not include Zone 1, it's at no extra cost. Someone travelling from Maze Hill to South Quay DLR via Greenwich would be charged £1.80 in peak hours, £1.50 at other times - the same fare as Maze Hill to Deptford.

But there's an extra £1.10 added for journeys through zone 1 - so Maze Hill to Goodge Street will cost £3.70 or £3.10 single.

A cap will apply on fares, so passengers making different journeys during the day will find they pay no more than the appropriate rate for a one day Travelcard.

For people using paper Travelcards or season tickets, it's business as usual.

However, the Oyster deal will not make travel as convenient as some users might like.

Passengers with Travelcards who need to travel outside their zones will be expected to get a free "Oyster Extension Permit" from a ticket machine or ticket office, or Oyster shop, before they travel to a National Rail station.

So someone with a zones 1-3 Travelcard will need to get a permit before travelling to Abbey Wood, in zone 5, for example. However, permits can be picked up weeks or months in advance, and will stay on Oyster cards until they are actually used.

Gold Card holders - who have annual Travelcards - will still have to buy paper tickets to get their usual one-third discount on tickets outside their zones.

And all passengers wanting to travel to Dartford or deeper into Kent will need to buy a paper ticket as normal.

As part of a separate agreement, Thames Clippers river services have already started to accept Oyster pay-as-you-go tickets, offering a 10% discount on normal cash fares, while Travelcard holders will get a 30% discount.

A £5.80 single ticket from Greenwich or QEII piers to central London will be reduced to £4.80 with Oyster PAYG, or £3.55 with a Travelcard.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Maze Hill, River Thames, TFL, Transport, Westcombe Park

John Roan School governors recommend staying put

November 13, 2009 By Rob Powell

Controversial proposals to move John Roan School to Greenwich Peninsula have been dropped by the school, it has been announced.

School governors have instead recommended refurbishing and rebuilding the school on its current sites at Maze Hill and Westcombe Park, and are asking the Council to endorse their decision.

The move had been held up by the need to decommission a gas holder at the peninsula, and with no firm time table in place for this to happen, the school governors undertook a feasibility study to examine whether they could stay at their existing locations.

A statement issued this week by the school says:

The Governors recently commissioned a feasibility study to investigate whether it was possible to rebuild and refurbish the school on its existing sites. Following the completion of this study, the Governors wish to progress this option and have entered discussions with both the Council and Partnerships for Schools. The next step will be to secure formal endorsement from the Council for the new approach, taking into account the impact on the overall schools’ strategy for the Borough.

The proposals were strongly opposed by some, and a John Roan School campaign group was formed in response. Andrew Steed, a member of the campaign, has told Greenwich.co.uk that they are "thrilled to bits" with the Governors' findings and only "regret that this didn't happen three years ago".

Updated - Greenwich Council have responded to the news...

On Monday 2 November, the governors of The John Roan School determined
they no longer wished to take advantage of the opportunity to move into
the new school to be built on the Greenwich Peninsula. This is because
the decommissioning of the gas holder, which is not within the control
of either party, will take longer than originally hoped

The Council's position throughout has been that it would support the wishes of the Governors of The John Roan School. We will continue to do so. To this end, we will work with the Governing Body and with Partnership for Schools (PfS), the agency which is delivering the Building Schools for the Future programme on behalf of the Government, to try to secure funding for the refurbishment of The John Roan School on its existing sites.

In the meantime, the Council will continue with its plans to build a new secondary school on the Greenwich Peninsula, using the PFI credits already allocated to us by the Government for this site.

Local MP, Nick Raynsford, has issued this statement to Greenwich.co.uk

‘I have been working closely with John Roan School’s Headteacher and Governors to help the school resolve the problem of the current unsatisfactory premises. As it is now clear that an early move to new premises on the Greenwich Peninsula is not possible because of the delay in decommissioning the gasholder, I will be exploring alternative options including the possibility of provision on the school’s two existing sites, with the school, Greenwich Council and Partnerships for Schools - the Government agency which is overseeing the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme. My overriding concern will be to ensure an outcome which enables the school to continue to improve its educational performance and to meet the needs of young people in Greenwich’.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: John Roan School, Maze Hill, Westcombe Park

More Cycle Spaces At Westcombe Park

July 26, 2009 By Rob Powell

Westcombe Park

Commuters using Westcombe Park train station are benefitting from the addition of 30 new spaces for cycles.

Transport for London has funded the extra spaces as part of a £300,000 program to increase the number of cycle spaces across London.

The new spaces are the familiar "Sheffield Stand" design, and include shelters, lighting and CCTV.

Head of Cycling, Walking and Accessibility at TfL, Peter McBride said: “We are delighted to work with Southeastern to provide additional parking facilities to encourage more people to cycle to rail stations to continue their journeys by train.

“These new facilities are part of the Mayor’s agenda to improve cycling in the Capital to help more people take to two wheels. TfL is committed to meeting the growing demand for safe and secure cycle parking and delivering the cycling revolution in London.”

Do you think there are enough cycle spaces in Greenwich? Where would you like to see additional spaces positioned?

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Cycling, Westcombe Park

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