m-way tolls

stephen T · Post by **stephen T** » Tue May 13, 2003 4:29 pm

First Toll Motorway: Â£3 Charge
Car drivers will have to pay Â£3 to use Britain's first toll motorway, it was announced today.The charge for the 27-mile M6 Toll road in the West Midlands was revealed by the private operators of the road, Midland Expressway Ltd .Van drivers will be charged Â£6 and the drivers of heavy goods vehicles will have to pay Â£11 to use the Â£485m road, which opens in January 2004.

But charges for all categories of vehicle will be reduced by Â£1 for the first 10m vehicles to use the road.

Severe congestion

All VAT-registered businesses will also be able to reclaim on the toll charge, so this will bring the HGV charge down to just over Â£9.

Like car drivers, motorcyclists will pay Â£3. At night (11pm to 6am), the charge for motorcycles will be reduced to 50p, with the car night rate Â£1, the van night rate Â£4 and the truck night rate Â£9.

The road, designed to relieve severe congestion on the M6 in Birmingham, will start from a point by junction four of the M6 south of the city.

The road will then follow a path north east of the city before rejoining the M6 at junction 11 north of Birmingham.

Solution

Drivers will pay the full rate even if they travel only for a short distance on the new road, which will have eight toll stations.

Apart from sections of the M25 around London, the M6 skirting Birmingham is the busiest stretch of road in Britain.

Designed for 72,000 vehicles per day, this section of the M6 currently carries 160,000 to 180,000, at an average speed of 17mph between junctions 4 and 11.

MEL managing director Tom Fanning commented: "The M6 Toll is a solution to one of the worst problems of congestion faced by drivers in the UK.

'Nightmare'

"We've set the price at a level we believe offers good value to motorists, vans and HGV users. For car drivers it's the same as two cups of coffee in a service station."

AA Motoring Trust spokesman Paul Watters said: "To avoid the nightmare of the M6 around Birmingham, people might well be prepeared to pay for the toll.

"What we might find is drivers using the toll road once or twice a week rather than every day."

The tolls set for the new stretch of road are comparable with similar schemes across Europe.

In France the 80-mile stretch of road from Tours to Poitiers costs drivers Â£6.62 while the 30-mile Barcelona to Manresa road in Spain costs Â£3.50.

MattB · Post by **MattB** » Tue May 13, 2003 6:37 pm

Personally I always try my best to avoid Birmingham anyway!

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Tue May 13, 2003 8:33 pm

reason for post :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

CB · Post by CB » Tue May 13, 2003 8:40 pm

Just say what you see.....

MattB · Post by **MattB** » Tue May 13, 2003 9:03 pm

Is that one of those subliminal message things?

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Tue May 13, 2003 9:19 pm

i think it is

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:13 pm

For car drivers it's [the toll] the same as two cups of coffee in a service station."

1). Blimey that much? I wouldn't be going round making that fact public

2). Robbie's solution - just charge anyone with a foreign numberplate and twice as much if they're French

CB · Post by CB » Tue May 13, 2003 10:30 pm

3) Or Welsh

Erm · Post by **Erm** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:41 pm

:rolleyes:

stephen T · Post by **stephen T** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:43 pm

come on ppl i thought u were more mature than this. its not a bloody competition. i thought u all might be interested in this matter. its posted on quite a few boards. grow up ppl.

CB · Post by CB » Tue May 13, 2003 10:46 pm

Hey Stephen and Erm, congrats fellas on a nice looking forum.
Not trying to suggest it is a competition or anything, but you HAVE been conspicuous in your abscence the past couple of months Stephen. Does seem slightly dubious you're posting again with a massive avatar advertising your website and a link to it? Maybe I'm just miffed cus i haven't received an invite to join? Who knows....

stephen T · Post by **stephen T** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:47 pm

3) Or Welsh

what is the point in that. i am proud to be welsh so its pointless trying to mock me.

Erm · Post by **Erm** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:47 pm

askin this lot to grow up?

:rolleyes:

i mean just cuz u posted up a message thats relevant to cars and will affect a few ppl and its not a big brother or mallets mallet rip off what else ya expect?

stephen T · Post by **stephen T** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:48 pm

i havnt invited any1 to join. maybe erm has but thats another matter. you are welcome to join. in fact we would be happy to see u on the board.

CB · Post by CB » Tue May 13, 2003 10:51 pm

3) Or Welsh
what is the point in that. i am proud to be welsh so its pointless trying to mock me.

sorry matey - wasn't aimed at you, didn't realise you were Welsh. It was actually directed at the fact that the Welsh have been charging a fortune in tolls on the M4 Severn road bridge for years. And its about time we got our own back!