The standard charge for car drivers using the Dartford Crossing linking Kent with Essex will rise from £2.50 to £3.50 in September 2025, Labour Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood, has announced.
Lilian Greenwood said the road was used by as many as 180,000 vehicles each day and the current charge was “no longer sufficient” to manage demand.
It seems bizarre that the Governments plan to manage demand is to price many motorists out of being able to use this vital crossing point. If there is such demand, then prices should be lowered, not raised – so motorists cannot help but think they are being taxed once again.
People driving buses, coaches, vans and other goods vehicles with two axles would pay up to £4.20 under the changes.
Vehicles with more than two axles will be charged up to £8.40. The fees were last increased in 2014.
Greenwood said the new charges were “significantly lower” than if they had increased in line with inflation since 2014.
She said “I am aware that these necessary changes to the charges will be unwelcome news for users of the crossing. These traffic levels are well in excess of the crossing’s design capacity, causing delays for drivers.”
Greenwood added that there would be “significant” discounts for people living locally, and that car drivers with pre-pay accounts would pay £2.80 for each crossing.
Jen Craft, MP for Thurrock, said she was “disappointed” and would write to her Labour colleague Greenwood to ask her to “reconsider”.
Labour MP Craft said she regularly used the crossing herself.
“I will be writing to the roads minister to ask if there’s any scope to reconsider it, also asking if there’s any scope for retaining some of the money that’s raised to fund local public transport,” she said.
Conservative Richard Holden described the government announcement as “underhanded” and fellow Essex MP James McMurdock, of Reform UK, said it was typical of “rip-off Britain”.
Under the original construction scheme for the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge (which opened in 1991), tolls were meant to stop when the private finance initiative contract with Dartford River Crossing Limited ended in 2003. However, the Transport Act 2000, external had introduced charging schemes for all trunk roads, bridges and tunnels that spanned more than 600m (1,969ft), which allowed the Highways Agency to continue to charge a crossing fee.
Jim Dickson, the Labour MP for Dartford, said the price rise was “unwelcome” but said he was glad ministers had “listened to me” by ensuring Dartford residents would still receive a “significant discount” for their annual passes.
“It’s important that we don’t see big price rises in the near future, and I’ll keep fighting to make sure local people are treated fairly,” he continued.
