Car-hating Sadiq Khan to hit millions of drivers with ANOTHER daily fee up to £17 on top of £12.50 Ulez and £15 C-charge
Car-hating Sadiq Khan is preparing to hit millions of drivers with another daily charge of up to £17 on top of his £12.50 Ulez and £15 congestion charges.
London’s Labor mayor has received approval for new road tunnel signs that will introduce new charges for motorists across the capital.
6
Mr Khan’s Transport for London agency has designed new signs showing that from 2025 motorists will be charged up to £8.50 per time to use the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels.
Currently travel through the Blackwall and Rotherhithe tunnels is free, while the Dartford junction has a toll of £2.50.
The proposed new signs have now been approved by the Conservative government’s transport minister, Mark Harper.
The existing dual-lane Blackwall Tunnels under the Thames, connecting north and south London, are currently free to use.
The £1.2bn Silvertown Tunnel under the river is planned, linking Silvertown in the east London borough of Newham with Greenwich, south of the Thames opened in 2025.
Proponents say this should ease congestion along Blackwall routes.
Documents published on the Department of Transport website suggest the new tolls will come into effect between 6am and 10pm.
They suggest motorcyclists should pay up to £3, motorists £4 and those using other vehicles up to £8.50.
Motorists would likely have to pay a fee for each crossing, rather than the return journey Evening Standard reported – meaning some motorists making return journeys would pay £17 a day.
Fees are expected to be paid online and not at physical toll booths.
A spokesman for campaign group Stop The Silvertown Tunnel said: “The proposed new toll for the Blackwall Tunnel brings no benefits at all.”
“It only serves to address the new additional traffic congestion, pollution and carbon emissions that will be created by the Mayor’s Silvertown Tunnel.”
TfL insisted no final decision had been made on the charges, describing the numbers on the signs as “placeholders” to illustrate the design.
A spokesman for the Transport Authority said: “In order to obtain the necessary approvals for the new road signage for the Silvertown Tunnel, an application has been submitted to the Department for Transport for the possible signs.”
DRIVERS HAVE ALREADY DRIVEN TWICE
“No final fees have been determined and all times and costs listed in the submission are indicative for obtaining approval.”
“Final fees will be collected prior to the opening of the Silvertown Tunnel in 2025 once further modeling, including concessions assessments, has been completed.”
The proposed new charges would be in addition to the £15 daily congestion charge for driving in central London, first introduced for £5 in February 2003 for former Labor mayor of London Ken Livingstone.
And Mr Khan last month extended the much-criticized ultra-low emissions zone to all 32 London boroughs.
This means a daily charge of £12.50 for anyone driving vehicles deemed too environmentally friendly.
Opponents say poorer families who can’t afford modern cars that meet stricter emissions standards will be harshly punished.
Tradesmen who require vans to transport supplies will face higher costs, which would potentially be passed on to customers’ bills.
The Ulez was initially limited to central London when it was launched in April 2019.
It was then expanded to all areas within North Circular and South Circular streets in October 2021, covering 3.8 million Londoners.
But now an additional 5 million people live in the zone.
The £12.50 charge will most likely apply to pre-2015 diesel vehicles and pre-2006 petrol vehicles.
Anti-Ulez activists staged a protest outside Mr Khan’s home in south London last month and set up a caravan with slogans.
And vigilantes also damaged Ulez cameras and vans that transported them.
Homeowners outside the new boundaries say motorists have offered them £100 a month to park on their driveway.
6
6
6
6
6