What's in a Zone?

Before fare zones were introduced, tickets for buses, trains and trams were sold on a 'point to point' basis. This 1933 cartoon by Harry Beck jokingly outlines the ticket making process - and hints at how complex the tickets could be within this system

From 1966 onwards, some flat fare routes were introduced on buses to simplify ticketing. This leaflet from 1976 shows the cost of the flat fare on Red Arrow bus routes post-decimalisation

An inner London zone was designated, and split into 2: 'West End' and 'City'

In 1982, fares outside the Inner London zones were graduated at roughly 3-mile intervals, effectively creating 3 extra zones

In 1984, the Travelcard was launched: the first ticket allowing travel on both buses and trains. The zones were renumbered at the same time. The central zones were unified and became Zone 1. The Inner Zone became Zone 2 and the gradiated Suburban Zones became 3a-3c

Think this map looks the same as the last one? Look again!

In 1989, the Travelcard was extended to cover Network SouthEast routes and the DLR. 

The fare zones were renumbered at this time: Zone 3a became Zone 3, Zone 3b became Zone 4, and Zone 3c became Zone 5

In 1991, the zones were graduated further and a 6th zone was generated

Since the introduction of the zones, their  boundaries have periodically been adjusted. This 2002 map, for example, shows that the Eastern end of the Central Line has been brought into zone 6

Zones 7-9 extend in patches outside zone 6 where TfL services operate. This 2016 underground map shows some of these additional zones