Shropshire Star

Fresh demands for M6 Toll be taken into public ownership

A treasury review into whether the M6 Toll should be nationalised has been called for by a Tory MP.

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South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson has written a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond asking for the Exchequer to examine whether the 27-mile motorway could be taken into public ownership.

Mr Williamson said: "There is a lot of local support for this and it would be positive in the terms of economic development for the area.

"I have written to the Chancellor to ask that the Treasury look into whether the M6 Toll could be taken into public ownership or whether we can explore different pricing structures to encourage higher usage than it experiences at the moment.

"While it has been positive to see the numbers of users increasing it would quite clearly be a lot better to see even more people using it. Certainly those living nearby in communities around the Toll would welcome seeing some benefit as they are currently priced out of using it."

More than 200 million vehicles have used Britain's only private motorway, which starts close to the junction of the M54 and M6, since it was opened in 2003.

The road has been put up for sale after a debt-restructuring process led to a consortium of 27 banks effectively taking ownership of the loss-making road from operator Midlands Expressway Ltd.

Despite the toll road losing money each year, it is thought the banks want to recover about £1.9 billion from the sale.

Usage of the road between July and September this year was 56,693 vehicles on weekdays and 42,278 on weekends. Overall usage was up 1.2 per cent compared to last year.

Speaking earlier this month Midlands Expressway chief Andy Pearson said that at peak times 80-95 per cent of through traffic – journeys between London and Manchester – already use the pay-as-you-go motorway.

He said that the road, which runs between Cannock and Coleshill, already takes 60 per cent on average of daily through traffic.

He argues that most of the congestion on the M6 and M5 was caused by local traffic which would have no use for a free toll road.

He said: "If the road was to made free it would have next to no benefit on the traffic congestion around Birmingham in the peak hours. It makes no commercial or financial sense. The M6 Toll does exactly what it says on the tin. We provide a congestion relief option for through traffic. The road was built to give those people a choice."

Labour's West Midlands Mayor candidate Sion Simon says taking the Toll into public ownership would be a priority if he is elected in May.

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