Most toll prices to rise from April next year if proposals are signed off
The cost of driving through the Mersey Tunnels is set to increase next year. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is proposing an increase in the price of the tolls for the Queensway and Kingsway tunnels that connect Liverpool and Wirral underneath the River Mersey.
In April of this year, the cost of making a single journey for a class 1 vehicle – which includes most cars – through the tunnels rose from £2 to £2.10 after the changes were agreed at a combined authority meeting this time last year. Now the region’s leaders are planning to put the prices up again from next April.
If the proposals are signed off at a meeting of the combined authority a week on Friday (December 20), then the Class one cash toll will rise to £2.30 from April next year. Class 2 vehicles will rise from £4.20 for a single journey to £4.60. Class 3 vehicle tolls will rise from £6.30 to £6.90 and the costs for Class 4 vehicles will increase from £8.40 to £9.10.
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If you are a Liverpool City Region resident and have a T-flow account, this currently gives drivers a discounted rate of £1.40 for a single journey through the tunnels. Under the proposals this price will rise by 10p to £1.50 from next April.
The Combined Authority also proposes changes to fares to multi operator tickets and Mersey Ferries, all in line with inflation to ensure those services remain sustainable. The price of a young person’s MyTicket, which allows all-day unlimited bus travel for under-19s will stay at £2.20.
The Combined Authority says the Queensway and Kingsway tunnels require millions of pounds of investment each year to keep them open and safe and that maintenance and electricity costs have increased recently in recent years, with the latter costing £2m a year.
Commenting on the proposals, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “With the cost of living continuing to put pressure on families across our region, I want to make sure we’re doing what we can to make travel as accessible, fair, and affordable for everyone.
“As well as freezing the young person’s MyTicket and maintaining the £2 bus fares cap, we’re continuing to ensure that city region residents pay the lowest prices to travel around our area – whether by bus, train or car. Thousands upon thousands of residents will benefit from these proposals and we are committed to keep prices affordable, while continuing to improve our public transport system.
“We are beginning to see those improvements take hold. Our publicly owned trains serve one of the highest performing rail networks in the country, we’ve already built two new train stations and are building four more, and work is well underway to take back control of our buses. By the end of 2027, we will have public control of our bus network and will be able to better integrate it with the wider transport system.”
