Davey and Johnson to work together on re-zoning Kingston & Surbiton train stations

18th December 2008

Following a positive meeting yesterday at City Hall, between Kingston and Surbiton’s MP, Edward Davey, and the Mayor of London’s Director of Transport, Kulveer Ranger, to discuss how Boris Johnson would support Edward Davey’s campaign to re-zone Kingston and Surbiton train stations from zone 6 to zone 5, Edward Davey believes a major step forward towards re-zoning has been achieved.

After the meeting, Edward Davey said:

“It’s now clear that Boris Johnson wants to help as much as he can, and I want to thank the Mayor for his support. Together I think there’s a real chance we could get these two key local stations re-zoned and save some local commuters hundreds of pounds a year.

“Johnson’s Director of Transport, Kulveer Ranger, had clearly understood the strong case for re-zoning Kingston and Surbiton stations, and impressed me with his willingness to work with me on this campaign.

“There’s still a long way to go because together we now have to persuade South West Trains of the case for change and deal with their concerns. The absolute earliest – if everything goes well – would not be till September 2009, but 2010 is more likely.

“I’ve thought for a long time that we needed the support of the Mayor of London to make re-zoning happen. Whilst Ken Livingstone refused to back our re-zoning, Boris Johnson did, so he deserves real credit. With the active co-operation of Boris and his team, there is a chance we can pull this off.

“The next step is to work up our joint case and I’m grateful that he wants his advisers to work with me and my colleague, transport economist and Berrylands resident, Dr Tim Leunig. Tim is the other hero in this campaign, as it has been his brilliant and detailed analysis that has got us this far. I’m much more confident that with Tim working with Transport for London’s experts we can make even more progress next year.

“It would be a fantastic boost to local people if we could get these rail fares cut. Given that we believe the fares now are unfair, it really is time for a “Fair Fares” policy – that Ken denied us, yet Boris may help us win.”