FTA slams "gratuitous and cynical" price hikes at Severn Crossing

By Elaine Watson

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Wales Large goods vehicle

FTA slams "gratuitous and cynical" price hikes at Severn Crossing
Hauliers are being “held to ransom” by the operator of the Severn Crossing, an essential trade corridor between England and South Wales, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has claimed.

Heavy goods vehicles making the crossing are now charged £16.40, compared with £8.20 (with a tag) for the Tamar Bridge, £1.50 for the Tyne Tunnel, £3.70 for the Dartford Tunnel and £5.60 for the Mersey Tunnel.

Many other toll bridges and tunnels also offered discounts for HGV drivers that bought in bulk or used automatic vehicle identification systems (tags), FTA policy manager for Wales and the South West Ian Gallagher told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

“It is absolutely ludicrous that businesses still trying to recover from the worst recession in recent history are being held to ransom by gratuitous and cynical price hikes a the Severn Crossing... Some of our members spend many thousands of pounds on these tolls every month, and it is simply unsustainable.”

In a submission to a Welsh Affairs Committee (WAC) enquiry into the toll structure at the crossing, Gallagher said “unchecked and successive price increases” ​were crippling businesses and actively discouraging some firms from setting up shop in South Wales because of the cost of transporting goods there.

FTA: freeze tolls in 2011

“Companies doing business between England and South Wales are effectively being taxed for the privilege. This simply has to stop or else we risk the recovery of the Welsh economy as a whole.”

While the government could not force Severn Crossing plc – the firm which operates the crossing until it returns to public ownership in 2017 – to reduce tolls, it could demand that it freezes them in 2011, he said.

The FTA has also called on the company to introduce off-peak rates for commercial vehicles and offer credit and debit card payments, which were now standard on most other major toll bridges, he claimed.

The closing date for submissions to the WAC enquiry is September 3.

Related topics Supply Chain

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