FTA supports plans to scrap southbound Dartford toll

Friday 02 October 2009

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) supports the Government’s proposal to scrap the southbound toll at the Dartford Crossing, Kent. The leading trade body has been calling for precisely this measure to be made as it will significantly reduce southbound commercial delivery times and the associated transport costs.

Gordon Telling, FTA’s Head of Policy for the South East, said:

“With a typical HGV costing £50 an hour to run, anything that can be done to reduce the time a lorry is spent sitting in traffic is good news for hauliers and will also improve air quality in the area.”

The Dartford/Thurrock Crossing is a key piece of freight infrastructure and is used by thousands of commercial vehicles every day. The FTA opposes the use of toll roads to control congestion as they simply penalise road freight users who have no choice but to use them. However, while the northbound toll effectively helps to regulate traffic flows in to the northbound tunnel, there is no need for a mechanism to control southbound traffic flow.

Telling concluded:

“Lorry drivers and motorists have to use this crossing as there are no viable alternative routes making the volume of traffic here particularly high. This stretch of the M25 is pretty congested, especially going southbound. So, removing toll plazas – for a crossing that has long-since been paid for anyway – removes a bottleneck that costs businesses hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

For further information please contact FTA’s media team on 01892 552255/01892 552253 or, out of hours, on 07985 874248 or 07818 450425.

FTA Press Office

01892 552255
press.office@fta.co.uk