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    or you can phone 0151 678 5706 or 0774 269 5699.

    • star An Inquiry starts on 19 May into plans which include tolling the existing bridge at Runcorn - RUNCORN / "Mersey Gateway" page star

    2008 INCREASE
    There is some confusion as to what Merseytravel are up to. It has been reported that at their meeting on Thursday 5 February 2009 they agreed to "freeze" tolls. The fact is that they agreed to increase tolls with cars going up to £1.60 and the other classes going up to £3.10, £4.70 and £6.20. The "freeze" is that they are "discounting" these tolls up to 31 March 2010.
    We will be fighting this increase and we urge everyone to complain to their local councillors and MPs.   Email addresses for councillors on Merseytravel board -
    Knowsley councillors only   Liverpool councillors only   St Helens councillors only   Sefton councillors only   Wirral councillors only   ALL the councillors

    There are two daily papers in Liverpool, which are part of the same group. There are also two free weekly papers on the Wirral, one of which is part of the same group as the Liverpool papers, the other is independent. The email contacts can be found at -
    Liverpool Daily Post   Liverpool Echo   Wirral News   Wirral Globe.

    Below is a fuller account of what happened at the meeting and a copy of a message that we sent to councillors before the meeting.

    What happened at the meeting

    The Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority (more commonly known as Merseytravel) met this afternoon (Thursday 5th February 2009) to consider their budget for the year starting in April and to consider a possible increase in Tunnel tolls. The budget was very quickly disposed of and discussion of the Tunnel tolls took up most of the meeting.

    Deciding on tolls is not simple. Since the change in the law that Merseytravel managed to get though Parliament in 2004, they have to decide each February whether to increase tolls based on the movement in RPI since November 1999. The Act says that the toll can be rounded up, so that with inflation the current £1.40 toll for a car could go to £1.60, with corresponding increases for other vehicles. The Act also says that when making an increase, Merseytravel should have "regard" to matters of an "economic or social nature" on Merseyside. In fact there do not have to be any tolls as under part of the former legislation which was not repealed and still applies, Merseytravel also has the power to "cease to demand, take and recover tolls in respect of traffic or any class of traffic passing through or into any of the tunnels".

    At the meeting the proposal was that the tolls be increased from 1 April 2009 with the toll for cars going to £1.60 and the tolls for other vehicles ranging up to £6.20. It was also proposed that there be a "discount" so that in practice the tolls would stay at the old rates till 31st March 2010.

    Councillor Blakeley, a Tory councillor from the Wirral, moved an amendment which pointed out that all tolls in Scotland had been removed and that people who lived near the Government owned crossing at Dartford were now getting a substantial discount. The amendment proposed that residents of Liverpool and Wirral should get a smaller discount from April 2010. The amendment also proposed that from the same date the Tunnels should be completely toll free to everyone between the hours of 6 PM and 6 AM.

    The other parties accused the Wirral Tories of political posturing. They said that only 3 per cent of people used the Tunnels and that it was wrong that other people should subsidise them. The Wirral Tories responded that at the moment it was the users of the Tunnels who were subsidising the people of Sefton and the other authorities who were using the buses and trains. They also pointed to the £70 million that had been spent on the abortive tram to Knowsley. The officers claimed that the cost of the Wirral Tory proposal would be £22 million and that it was unworkable so that they would have to remove all tolls for everyone which would cost nearly £38 million. The officers also suggested that this was illegal.

    After a long discussion (including an adjournment in which the Lib Dems considered how they should react to the amendment), there was a vote where the amendment was debated (all those present voted against apart from the two Wirral Tories – Councillors Blakeley and Lewis). The original motion was then put and only the two Wirral councillors voted against it.

    This is the message that we sent to all the 18 councillors before Thursday's meeting -

    Dear Councillor,

    From what was published in the press last Friday, we are aware that at your Budget meeting this Thursday you will be considering a possible increase in Tunnel tolls.
    We have not seen the agenda report but we are aware that the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004 gave the power for Merseytravel to increase tolls based on the movement in RPI since November 1999. As the Act also says that the toll can be rounded up, this means that the present £1.40 toll for a car could go to £1.60, with corresponding increases for other vehicles.

    As you will know the Act says that when making an increase, Merseytravel should have "regard" to matters of an "economic or social nature" on Merseyside. As you may also know under part of the former legislation which was not repealed and still applies, Merseytravel also has the power to "cease to demand, take and recover tolls in respect of traffic or any class of traffic passing through or into any of the tunnels".

    The report in the press suggested that Merseytravel was likely to decide to leave the tolls at their current level. We hope that those reports turn out to be correct, but we would like to remind you of some reasons why in our view the tolls should not be increased -

    1. You will be well aware of the state of the economy nationally and locally. In the particular case of Merseyside it would be strange if shortly after the Government has given a substantial amount of help to the two car plants in the area, a charge on drivers is raised.

    2. As you will also be aware drivers as a whole pay far more in taxes (about £50 billion) a year than is spent on the roads. The system is particularly unfair on people who live in the few areas in Britain where there are tolls on top of the other taxes. Merseyside is the hardest hit as it has had a toll far longer than in most areas (the Birkenhead tunnel has been open and collecting tolls since 17th December 1933), it is already one of the highest tolls in the country and the only one that is in the middle of an urban area.

    3. Users of trains and ferries on Merseyside receive a large subsidy which possibly amounts to 50 per cent of the costs. Most bus users do not receive any direct help, but may indirectly gain from the payments made to operators for Concessionary travel. Tunnels users on the other hand already pay more than the cost of running the Tunnels. Prior to the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004, Merseytravel was taking about £3 million each year from the Tunnels for its General Fund. The 2004 Act allowed more money to be taken. We have not seen the current year's draft budget, but the 2008/09 budget showed (not on the Tunnels page but under "Funds Management") that over £7 million (£3,493,000 plus £3,663,000) was to be taken from the Tunnels of which £700,000 was for the Ferries.

    Tolls under normal circumstances hinder the economy. This was one reason why at the beginning of December the people in the Manchester area voted four to one against the proposed road tolls (despite a massive financial inducement from the Government and a very well funded advertising campaign). We believe that a Mersey Tunnels toll increase would cause further damage to this area and cause more firms in the services and distribution sectors to relocate to untolled areas.

    If on Thursday a motion is moved that would increase the tolls, we ask that you vote against it.

    walkdemo TUNNEL WALK PROTEST

    On Sunday (15th June 2008) there was a "sponsored" walk through the Birkenhead Tunnel which was closed to traffic. We held a protest in William Brown Street outside the Liverpool entrance. We started collecting signatures for a new petition, and some of our more intrepid members walked through. The protest was covered in the Politics Show and on the local tv news on BBC and Granada, and on local radio including the Pete Price show on Radio City. star   Some of the recent stories about our toll proposals
    star   2008 Toll Proposals from MTUA (page updated 13 June 2008)
    star   2008 Toll Increase

    MTUA are ordinary users of the Mersey Tunnels that link Liverpool with the Wirral peninsula.
    We campaign against tolls and toll increases, and take an interest in other issues that have an adverse effect on users of the Tunnels.
    We are also opposed to the plan to toll both the proposed bridge and the existing bridge over the Mersey at Runcorn.

    We are part of:- NATIONAL ALLIANCE AGAINST TOLLS
    There have been some major anti toll successes:-
    Tolls on the Skye bridge, after a 9 year fight, were removed on 21st December 2004. A proposal for tolls in Edinburgh was defeated, three to one, by a poll in February 2005. On the 31st March 2006 the tolls were removed from the Erskine bridge over the Clyde. The proposed new M6 Toll Expressway was abandoned in July 2006. From the 11th February 2008, Scotland's last two tolls (Forth and Tay) were removed.

    We had a long bitter campaign against the Mersey Tunnels Bill (Brief summary of the Bill) which made it easier to increase tolls and use toll money elsewhere. We tried to make Parliament aware of what this Bill was about and were hoping that they would not allow it to become law. But it was passed in the Commons on 29th October 2003. It then went to the Lords and we petitioned the Lords Committee, but the Lords passed it on 28th June 2004, by 75 votes to 65.

    cartoon1 At the start of 2006, we submitted to Merseytravel a set of proposals that would benefit both users and the local economy in Liverpool and on the Wirral: "Mersey Tunnels - Another Way Forward":- a) No Toll Increases.
    b) One way tolls.
    c) Sundays free.
    d) No tolls for Buses.     Proposals were also sent to MPs and councillors. There was almost no support from the politicians, and the proposals were rejected by Merseytravel at a secret meeting. One consolation was that they abandoned a planned toll increase that was due in April 2006 (though they did increase tolls for some HGVs).

    Previous Proposals
    In Autumn 2004, we had made a similar set of proposals - "A New Way Forward For Tunnels"
    Those proposals were backed by MPs including Frank Field, Stephen Hesford and Bob Wareing, by the Leader of Liverpool City Council, and by Lords with a local connection including Lord Alton of Liverpool, Lord Chan of Oxton and Lord Hunt of Wirral.
    They were also backed by the AA Motoring Trust, the Forum of Private Business, the RAC Foundation and the Road Haulage Association.
    The support made no difference as Merseytravel rejected all the proposals and instead voted for a Tunnel Tolls Increase which came into effect on Sunday 3 April 2005. They also planned another increase from April 2006.


    TUNNELS & TOLLS INFORMATION

  • There are two tunnels between Liverpool and the Wirral -

    Birkenhead tunnel is one tube of 4 lanes. For some years it has had limits that effectively ban lorries - gross weight (3.5 tonnes), height (3.9 metres), width (2.7 metres) and length (12 metres).

    Wallasey tunnel is two tubes each of two lanes. The main limits for the Wallasey tunnel are gross weight (38 tonnes) and height (5.0 metres), width (2.9 metres) and length including load (12.2 metres without trailer and 18.3 metres with). They frequently close one of the Wallasey tubes, and have two way working in the open tube.

  • "Dock" branches - the Birkenhead Tunnel was built with two branches from the main tunnel.
    One branch is on the Liverpool side and has been one way since about 1970. It as usually referred to as "the Dock exit".
    It is only an exit for traffic travelling towards Liverpool. You have to be in the left hand lane going through the main part of the tunnel in order to use the Dock exit.
    The Dock exit branch is quite short and comes out at traffic lights at the junction of Chapel Street and the Strand (i.e. by St Nicholas's church and the Liver Buildings).
    (There is another branch on the Birkenhead side. It was initially two way, then it was restricted to traffic going from Birkenhead to Liverpool and then it was closed about 1970.)

  • Height restriction - there is a restriction on all vehicles at most toll booths. Tall sided vehicles (and trailers), generally have to use booths to the left.

  • Weight restriction on the Bidston viaduct - The main approach to the Wallasey tunnel from the Wirral is along the M53. Just before the tunnel, at Junction 1 of the M53, there was a weight restriction and diversion for a year. The diversion was lifted in April 2006, and HGVs can now use the viaduct, but are restricted to the inside lane.

  • Tunnels Byelaws (pdf file). (Merseytravel don't use the common names, they call the Birkenhead tunnel - "Queensway", and the Wallasey tunnel - "Kingsway".)
    If you have a large vehicle or dangerous or unusual load, you can check the byelaws and ring Mersey Tunnels on 0151 236 8602.

  • Learner drivers may use the Tunnels, but obviously you should not drive through unless you are competent and accompanied.

  • Closures - One of the two tubes of the Wallasey tunnel is usually closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays between about 9.45 AM and 3.30 PM. This usually causes congestion which continues into the PM peak. There are also irregular overnight closures of part of the Birkenhead Tunnel.

  • TOLLS from 6 April 2008
  • Motorbikes without a sidecar don't pay (there is a space without a toll barrier, on the left hand end of the line of toll booths).

  • Cars = £1.40 each way.
  • Mini buses (seating capacity of less than 9 persons)= £1.40 each way.

  • Cars with a trailer = £2.80 each way.

  • Buses (Vehicles with seating capacity for 9 or more persons) with 2 axles =£ 2.80 each way.
  • Buses (Vehicles with seating capacity for 9 or more persons) with more than 2 axles = £ 4.20 each way.

  • Light Goods Vehicles (no more than 3.5 tonnes gross weight) and no trailer = £1.40 each way.
  • Light Goods Vehicles (no more than 3.5 tonnes gross weight) and with a trailer = £2.80 each way.

  • Heavy Goods Vehicles (more than 3.5 tonnes gross weight) with 2 axles = £2.80 each way.
  • Heavy Goods Vehicles (more than 3.5 tonnes gross weight) with 3 axles = £4.20 each way.
  • Heavy Goods Vehicles (more than 3.5 tonnes gross weight) with 4 or more axles = £5.60 each way.
    •
  • There are no Toll barriers on the Liverpool side. You pay on the Wirral side on entry or exit. Most drivers pay by throwing the toll into the collection basket. If you have not got the correct money, there are a few manned booths, but they only give you change, you still have to throw the money in your self.
    The Tunnels do not give receipts for tolls (and in any case there is no VAT).

  • There is another system used by some drivers called "Fast Tag". You have to pay monthly in advance by standing order. You are given a transponder (tag) that opens the toll barrier and reduces your pre paid credit. The transponder (tag) is free, but if it is lost or stolen there is a £30 charge from Merseytravel.
    Users of the Fast Tag system were at last able to get a breakdown of individual journeys starting from around the end of 2005.

  • There are concessions available for Disabled Drivers. They have to be applied for in advance and the driver is issued with a "Fast Tag" which is credited for so many journeys in the year. (For some reason the driver has to use a manned toll booth, rather than an automatic one.) The number of journeys allowed is higher for residents of Merseyside.


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