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Staffordshire Travel
A new motorway in Staffordshire
The M6 toll road
A car drives through on the toll road's opening day
Britain's first ever toll motorway will pass through South Staffordshire and is now open:
Key topics:
Toll motorway charges
How to pay
How the charges work
Exemptions
Have your say
:: eMail this page »

:: See Also »
About the M6 toll road
Find out more about the new M6 toll road that will pass through South Staffordshire

Have your say

Do you agree or disagree with the idea of a toll road in Britain? Have your say on the messageboard

Facts & Timeline
Lots of fascinating facts about the toll road plus a timeline from planning through to construction

M6 toll road gallery
Take a look at an exclusive gallery of aerial shots of the toll road's construction

M6 toll road map
Discover exactly where the new M6 toll road will run from and to

:: Web Links»

www.m6toll.co.uk
The official web site of the M6 toll road.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

:: Facts »
Today, the M6 carries up to 160,000 vehicles a day. It was built for just 72,000.

The new M6 Toll Road will consist of 3 lanes going north and three lanes going south.

The average speed between junctions 4 and 11 of the M6, the section the new M6 Toll will relieve, is just 17mph. This can create a journey time of 79 minutes in rush hour.

New toll road will have 50 bridges, eight toll stations and new services.

More than 16 million cubic metres of earth have been moved - enough to fill the old Wembley Stadium eight times over.

The road itself is made of more than 800,000 tonnes of blacktop surfacing - more than 10 times the weight of the QE2.


There is enough structural steel used in construction to build the Eiffel Tower!

:: Print this page »
View a printable version of this page.

Asking British motorists to pay to use a British road is a contentious issue, especially when you consider the taxes that are already levied on the vehicles we drive.

However, the government believes the M6 toll road is absolutely necessary in easing the chronic traffic problems in the West Midlands. The motorway aims to bypass the most congested parts of the M6, which are near Birmingham.

Planners believe the new toll road will save up to 45 minutes during the rush hour traffic, which should appeal to motorists who are fed up with the slow crawl of traffic on West Midland motorways.

Friends and enemies
Environmental group Friends of the Earth are bitter critics of the new motorway scheme, and they say that it could cause more problems than it is intended to solve. They believe many drivers using the motorway will be forced to queue at continental-style toll booths, which will create the very congestion the scheme aims to eradicate.

That said, the new toll motorway will benefit the local area by creating up to 150 jobs, mainly in maintenance, administration and toll collection.

The new toll motorway has both it's critics and it's supporters - only time will tell who's right and who's wrong...

What exactly is the new toll road?
The M6 toll road is a brand new, three lane motorway which runs from junction 11A on the M6, which is near Cannock, and follows the Staffordshire border towards Tamworth before heading south, rejoining the M6 at junction 4. Click here to see a map of the route.

A fare old trip

For comprehensive and up-to-date details regarding fare prices on the M6 Toll Road, you should check out the official site at: www.m6toll.co.uk

How to pay

Signs showing which lanes to get into

As you approach a toll station on the new motorway you will be filtered into specific toll lanes. These toll lanes will contain clear signs above the toll booths as to which form of payment will be accepted.

Manned toll booth sign

There are manned toll booths (sign shown above) that accept cash and card payments as well as a number of automatic ones (shown below).

Cash only

Automatic cash toll booth

Any toll booth showing the sign above will be for coin payment only. There is no change given and receipts are available on demand.

Credit and Debit cards

Automatic card toll booth

Any toll booth displaying the sign above will accept major credit and debit card payment only. Again, receipts are available on demand.

Electronic tag

Automatic tag toll both sign

Tags are an electronic payment system used on the new M6 toll road.
An electronic tag is attached to your windscreen which includes a microchip that is automatically read at each toll booth.

The driver sets up an account with the company that run the new M6 toll road. The system works in the same way as a top-up mobile phone - the driver 'tops-up' their account with money.

When you approach the toll barrier, it will rise and you can proceed without delay with the set fee being taken automatically from your toll road account.

Detail of how to register for an electronic tag account can be found on the official M6 toll motorway website. Click here for more information.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites

How the charges work
The charges are based on the physical size of your vehicle, with all vehicles being measured while approaching a toll booth. And state of the art technology is being used to do just that...

Light sensors throw beams of light across the toll lane. Breaking these beams while positioned over a magnetic passage loop identifies the size of your vehicle, calculates its class and the subsequent toll.

For more information about vehicle classes, check out the M6 toll road website by clicking here.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites

Exemptions
If you are disabled or an organisation which transports disabled persons you may be exempt from paying for your vehicle when using the new M6 Toll motorway.

For more information about the exemptions and how they apply, check out the M6 toll web site by clicking here.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites

When will it open?
The toll road is now open. For more information, click here.

Opening day gallery New!
Exclusive photographs from the opening day of the new M6 toll motorway.

What do you think?
Is the new M6 toll road a good idea? Should motorists have to pay to use Britain's roads? Are toll charges fair, especially on businesses? Are more roads the answer to Britain's transport problems?

If you've got an opinion then we want to hear it!

Click here to have your say.

Click here to post a comment on this messageboard or click here to see what's already been said...



Your comments:
Newest messages appear at the top of this thread...

Mark
Am travelling up that way tomorrow and trying to work out if it is worth using it at about 7:30am on a saturday morning. Will the normal M6 be busy? I have no idea. There's lots of talk baout how much time you can save in rush hour, but very little about other times of the day.

Andrea
Good site - you're a pretty good writer..... Very creative...

Ralph
Dick Turpin is still out there on the highway

JOHNONE
Road Tolls, Bridge Tolls, parking fines, speeding fines. price of fuel.Road tax, cost of insurance, Seens to to that the usless parliment crew, has only one concern, TO ABUSE THERE PRIVLAGE BY RIPPING OFF JOE PUBLIC. we cant live in this costly country.

KIERAN
HI IM DOING COURSEWORK ON THIS M6 TOLL ROAD PLEASE TYPE IN MORE VIEWS

paul
frist time i used m6 toll and i was disgusted with the price 3.50 when the tyne tunnel is only a 1.00 so think there should price it at 1.50 per car

Rob
The M6 Toll is a fantastic road and shaves hours off my journey time every time I use it. £3.50 is a decent, worthwhile price when you consider you probably spend that on fuel sat in a jam by not using the toll road.

bill kirkwood
the m6 toll road is good and worthy of all the plaudits it receives the only drawback being when you exit at the northern end the m6 is chaos again

buy xanax
i like your website very much but please do get us more information about it

AR
I'll never vote Labour again because of the U-turn on road tolls.

Chris
M6 Toll is great. Saves time and sooooo safe. Takes pressure off other roads which are too slow. Long live the M6 Toll !!!!

Bill ,Wirral taxi driver.
Used it for the first time yesterday,very impressed but thought £3.50 each way was expensive.

BM
Totally unfair - we already contribute a hefty revenue to the Government in all sorts of direct and indirect motoring taxes. Its a back door for less investment in transport. All that is probably happening is that SatNavs are spreading and many of the smaller roads are getting overused. Public transport for getting to work is a waste of space as most people work in locations not feasible in terms of cost or time to get to.

moleonthemove
The reason this is a toll road is because it was paid for by private finance, this is how they get there money back, bit like the Eurotunnel, only not as expensive. Used it once to avoid the traffic queues and waited twenty minutes to get through the toll booth, and join the traffic jam on the other side.

jim jam
im so totally against the extention of the m6 toll road sooo many externalities for sooo many stakeholders!

Roger
I dnt agree with the toll road 2 much money 4 the government

rob
use the road a lot and its well ace so smooth and theirs never any queues at the booth

kelly
no no no!!! Why whats the point of ruining the country some more??

marcus
i have a vw camper van and they charged the the same price as a truck bad news m6 toll........

anonymus
tolls, milage and the new feared system are all to make money! why do we pay roadtax??? people who critisice motorists are people who dont drive! the reason people have cars is because the public transport in the uk is terrible!!

SA
Thoroughly enjoy using the M6 toll and use it every time when travelling. The benefits of an empty road are well worth the costs when travelling for long periods of time.

Tim Midgley
If the same government time, energy and public money had gone into public transport then one person an hour would not be dying of respiratory diseases to day. One often wonders who are the real creators of WMD’s in the 21st Century. Tim.

tr
say no to the m6 toll

Claudia
The M6 Toll Rocks!

Chris, Oxford
Let’s face it...if the government actually spent all the money it collected in road tax on roads, instead of outreach co-ordinators for kiddie-fiddlers, then we would have gold-paved highways arching across the sky on marble pillars with precious gems for cat’s eyes. In an ideal world, we should be able to collect a reciept every time we use this road and deduct it from the cost of next year’s tax disc.

naveenderjit singh sandhu
i HATE this road. i cant drive yet but when i do i will most certainly not drive on this road. we are not the french take toll roads back!

wafet
what does the goverment do to reduce acid rain?

Kirsty Sutherland
I think the M6 TOLL ROAD IA A BAD IDEA IT RUINS THE COUNTRY SIDE

toni
it seems this government wants to put a tax on evry thing whats next? i have to pay tax to use the bathroom?

Vicki and Al
Unfortunately, came via this route on the way to the Birmingham NIA...Very unimpressed with price or benefits of this toll system. As stated above, feeling increasingly resentful of contributing taxes when additional charges are applied.

matt ford
exelent road - apart from the tags dont work all the time, and the barriers dont half put a dent in your motor!



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