M6 Toll operator warns car drivers of price rises
Drivers using the M6 Toll – Britain’s only pay-to-drive motorway – have been told they are going to have to pay more to use the facility.
Road operator, Midland Expressway, said the weekday toll increases for cars were the first to be implemented since March 2012.
The move comes just a month after the 27-mile motorway was acquired by an Australian pension fund in a deal thought to be worth close on £2bn.
The price increases, which come into effect on August 7, apply to cars using the M6 Toll during weekdays and MEL said the rise reflected a partial catch-up with inflation.
It said prices had been held static over the past five years to help drivers recover from the economic downturn and to manage through several years of significant roadworks and disruption on the M6 during the Managed Motorway implementation.
From August 7, an additional 40p will be added to daytime prices, which MEL said was still lower than the c.12.8% growth in inflation, as measured by RPI, over the period since March 2012.
Tolls for all other vehicles and all night and weekend prices remain unchanged. MEL said this compared favourably to other forms of travel such as rail, where costs had increased by around 12.9% over the same period.
Andy Pearson, Chief Executive of MEL said: “We have always approached our pricing structure with very careful consideration to economic sensitivities and the impact on our customers and their businesses. This was part of the reason for holding tolls flat over the past five years.
“The new prices are effectively a partial catch-up with inflation and are increasing by less than RPI over the same period. We remain committed to investing in our infrastructure to deliver an excellent customer experience and provide a high quality, free-flowing alternative to the congested M6.”
The motorway carries more than 53,000 vehicles per weekday on average, which MEL said represented more than 60% of all through-traffic using the M6 corridor.
On average, it said overall traffic on the motorway had grown by 7.6% each year since 2012.
The new car prices are £5.90 for daytime mainline (through journeys) and £4.40 for daytime ramp (local journeys).
