Author Topic: Honour the original Dartford Crossing agreement, abolish all tolls permanently  (Read 3227 times)

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Offline Web Admin

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Petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/227567

Honour the original Dartford Crossing agreement, abolish all tolls permanently

Under the original agreement, once the Dartford bridge had paid for itself, the tolls were to stop. In 1999, the government agreed that fees would be abolished by the end of 2003, an agreement that was not honoured and has been successively reneged on. We ask that the tolls are removed permanently.

Offline 2b1ask1

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Signed & shared...
Willing to do my bit...

Offline Overlord

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Signed. You can't trust politicians to do anything they say.

Offline The Bald Eagle

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Done
WE ARE WATCHING YOU

Online Coco

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Ditto

Offline scalyback

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Well you see, they did do what they said.
On the 31st March 2003, they abolished the 'toll' and introduced a 'charge' instead.
So the toll has gone, it is now a charge.

Quote
Charging scheme
In 2000, the European Union issued a directive that value-added tax should be charged on all road tolls, including the Dartford Crossing. The Government opposed the directive and said it would bear the additional cost.[73] It was anticipated that the tolls would be removed on 1 April 2003 under the original PFI scheme contract. However, the Highways Agency decided that the tolls would become a "charge", under legislation introduced by the Transport Act 2000 to introduce charging schemes on any trunk road bridge or tunnel at least 600 metres (2,000 ft) in length.[66][74][47]

Under the 2000 Transport Act, the A282 Trunk Road (Dartford-Thurrock Crossing charging scheme) Order 2002 allowed the continuation of the crossing fee, which officially became a charge and not a toll on 1 April 2003. Management of the crossing was contracted to Le Crossing Company Limited on behalf of the Highways Agency.

Source... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartford_Crossing

Offline 2b1ask1

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I'm sure someone got paid handsomely to dream that little ruse up!!!
Willing to do my bit...

Offline Overlord

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Well, it doesn't matter what you call it, it is still charging motorists to cross the river, which was promised would end when the bridge was paid for. As for the VAT, yet another reason to get out of the EU.

Online Coco

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And for the D(a)fT response from the Government see here.

The arithmetic is interesting. 160,000 vehicles per day at the standard charge of £2.50 comes to £400,000 per day or £146 millions per annum - and in their wisdom D(a)fT is spending a whacking great £10 millions to alleviate the congestion. I wonder where the other £136 millions goes to?

Offline 2b1ask1

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That is a 'promise' to spend £10 million over not each year but vaguely 'the next few years' I call BS on that as they could spend that amount just maintaining signage and markings and claim to have spent it elevating congestion! Anyone who has tried to get from Bob Dunn Way to the tunnels on the almost daily jam will be able to tell them how to remark the slip to better accommodate the traffic coming from from (east/west) 4 lanes into one on the tunnel slip where it presently has to yield to the tunnel approach! I have corresponded to them several times about this issue to be told cr@p about cues being reduced since free flow was introduced. Well Bob Dunn Way has been many times worse since.

Where is that image of the cash cow....
Willing to do my bit...

 


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