Drivers Crossing the Mersey set to be hit by Massive Toll Increases Despite ‘Record Breaking’ Revenues

Drivers crossing the River Mersey are expected to be hit with massive toll increases despite record-breaking revenues.

Mersey Gateway, which controls two bridges over the waterway at Runcorn, is pressing for a 20% tax increase to £2.40 and an uplift of fines by 25% to £50.

The Gateway and Silver jubilee bridges pulled in a record-busting £12.6m for the July-September quarter and annual revenues are expected to top £45m.

Despite this the operations company says it needs more cash to upkeep the facilities which sees more than 80,000 vehicles thunder over the bridges each day.

The MG board’s recommendations to Halton Council sets out a plan which will see toll charges rise next April and remain steady for three further years. This would mean that by April 2028, toll charges would have increased once in the first 11 years of the project.

Runcorn’s new bridge was completed in 2017 with construction costs running  into hundreds of millions of pounds but a lifetime price-tag estimated at £1.86bn due to running and maintenance requirements.

Most funding will continue to come from toll charges paid by people who use the bridges. The remainder comes from the Department for Transport (DfT), which provides tens of millions of pounds of funding for the project every year. Without this subsidy from Government, the project would make a significant annual loss.

The Gateway board says pegging prices for seven years now means financial problems are emerging due to inflationary pressures.

Mike Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said “The whole team is pleased that we’ve been able to keep toll charges the same for over seven years, as well as providing discounts for eligible Halton Council residents and regular users of the bridges. I would urge anyone who uses the bridge regularly to register with merseyflow as that is the only way to get discounts on your crossings and it makes managing your payments so much easier.”

The other original bridge, the Silver Jubilee, has been subject to charges since the new one opened.

Cllr Stef Nelson, Halton Borough Council’s portfolio holder for Environment and Urban Renewal, added: “We always knew that we would need to adjust tolls for inflation to meet the costs of maintaining and operating the bridges. The recommendations from the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board set out a sustainable approach to doing that.”