Congestion Charge Coverage

Original

Until 18 February 2007 the congestion charge applied to drivers within the London Inner Ring Road.
The original boundary of the zone is sometimes referred to as the London Inner Ring Road.

Starting at the northernmost point and moving clockwise, the major roads defining the boundary are Pentonville Road, City Road, Old Street, Commercial Street, Mansell Street, Tower Bridge Road, New Kent Road, Elephant and Castle, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Park Lane, Edgware Road, Marylebone Road and Euston Road (other roads fill the small gaps between these roads).

The zone therefore includes the whole of the City of London, the city’s financial district, and the West End, the city’s primary commercial and entertainment centre.
 
Current Area

The boundary of the enlarged zone, as of 19 February 2007, starts at the northern end of Vauxhall Bridge and (travelling in a clockwise direction) heads along the northern bank of the River Thames as Grosvenor Road, the Chelsea Embankment and Cheyne Walk.

From here, it heads north, along the eastern edges of the Kensington and Earl’s Court one-way systems (classified as part of the A3220), encompassing Edith Grove, Redcliffe Gardens, Earl’s Court Road, Pembroke Road, Warwick Gardens and part of the Addison Road, before continuing to the A40 Westway as the Holland Road and the West Cross Route.

The boundary then includes parts of North Kensington, but the actual boundary is defined by the West London Line railway track, which runs between Latimer Road (inside the zone) and Wood Lane (outside the zone), until Scrubs Lane, before turning east, following the Great Western Main Line out of Paddington towards Ladbroke Grove.

Here, the boundary follows the Grand Union Canal and rejoins the existing zone at Edgware Road after skirting Paddington, by way of the Bishop’s Bridge Road, Eastbourne Terrace, Praed Street and Sussex Gardens.

TfL have defined some free through routes, where drivers do not have to pay the charge. The main route is defined by the western boundary of the original zone Vauxhall Bridge Road, Grosvenor Place, Park Lane and Edgware Road, with some additions around Victoria. The Westway is the other exempt route.