Drivers return to M6 Toll as usage increases 5%
THE UK’s only pay-as-you-drive motorway, the M6 Toll, has seen a 5% increase in traffic volumes during the last three months.
The move will be welcome news for road operator Midland Expressway Ltd as speculation grows that it is struggling to meet targets.
Press speculation has suggested that investors specialising in buying distressed debt may be hovering around MEL parent, Australian firm Macquarie Atlas Roads – part of investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd.
However, if the road is failing to hit targets then investors may not view the debt acquisition as an attractive proposition.
The latest set of user figures show the number of vehicles using the 27-mile motorway increased 5.2% between July and September compared to the same quarter last year, with volumes averaging out at a daily 44,089 users (2009: 41,898).
MEL said revenues grew 8.7% during the quarter, compared with the corresponding period in 2009.
Accurate data is not available as there is no breakdown between the different types of vehicle using the route – car drivers are charged £5 for a single journey; HGVs £10.
However, Tom Fanning, MEL’s chief executive, said he was pleased with the improvements.
“The M6 Toll continues to perform well and we are pleased that the solid growth in both traffic and revenues within our June quarter has continued strongly in our September quarter results.”
No reason is given for the increase in traffic but the ongoing roadworks in connection with the widening of the M6 between Birmingham and Stoke may be a factor as drivers look to alternative routes to avoid queuing.
Whatever the reason, the results will be welcome relief to MEL as the £900m road, which is designed to relieve the M6 between Coleshill and Cannock, approaches its seventh birthday in December.
Earlier this year, the Campaign for Better Transport savaged the motorway as a white elephant and claimed it was losing MEL £25m a year.
Commentators are likely to scrutinise the road’s performance even more closely in the coming months following the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review and its axing of hundreds of road schemes around the country.
With public funding tight, the Government may again investigate the option of introducing pay-as-you-drive schemes as a means of raising revenue for important projects.
