Private finance would triple Thames crossing toll - campaign group

Tolls on motorists to cross the Thames east of London could triple if the Lower Thames Crossing is built using private finance, campaigners have claimed.

- Gwyn Topham

Plans for the £9.2bn crossing were signed off in March and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the government was exploring options to privately finance the project, Britain's biggest roadbuilding scheme. The road tunnel between Essex and Kent will have tolls matching the charge for the Dartford Crossing, where M25 motorway traffic crosses the Thames.

Cars pay £2.50 to travel through Dartford, but analysis from the campaign group Transport Action Network (TAN) suggests tolls would need to be about £8.10, and £14 for a lorry, to cover financing and operating costs. National Highways, which is leading the work on the crossing, said the figures were untrue and that it expected the tolls to remain in line with present levels, adjusted for inflation. The Department for Transport declined to comment. Neither the government nor National Highways have yet set out detailed financial modelling for a privately financed toll scheme.