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(From http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/content_objectid=13923135_method=full_siteid=50002_headline=-M6-Toll-branded-big-flop-name_page.html)


M6 Toll branded big flop

Feb 6 2004

By Ben Hurst, Evening Mail


The M6 Toll road hailed as an antidote to the region's traffic chaos has been a flop in its first month.

A daily average of just 30,662 drivers paid to use Britain’s first toll road in the critical first month of January.

The first month after the holiday spell had been seen as crucial to the road’s success, and the first real test of whether the £900 million highway would be a hit.

The M6 Toll’s first week before Christmas saw an average of about 35,000 vehicles a day - low figures which were explained by the quiet holiday period.

But in January the maximum number of people who used the M6 Toll on any one day was 41,096. The quietest day saw just 17,845 use it.

This was during a period when the M6 was virtually shut down by accidents and pot hole repairs.

The poor figures come during an “introductory offer” with all vehicles being charged £1 less than the normal fee.

Before the road opened on December 14, figures of 75,000 vehicles per day had been suggested.

Normally 180,000 per day use the M6 through Birmingham - the stretch the M6 Toll is supposed to relieve.

A busy suburban street - for example Boldmere Road in Sutton Coldfield - carries 10,000 vehicles per day.

John Lamb from Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: “It seems as though these figures are disastrous and I think the M6 Toll bosses are going to have to do some real heart searching about the way forward.

“The simple fact is that businesses aren’t using it - the £10 toll for lorries is too high. I’ve used the road four times and I haven’t seen one truck on it.”

Geoff Dossetter, from the Freight Transport Association, said: “Trucks simply aren’t using the road.

“Unless the M6 Toll people reduce the prices, then they aren’t going to get any businesses to use it because it isn’t economically viable.”

The M6 Toll has already been hit by several roadworks to repair an uneven road surface, and also to deal with dangerous buildups of surface water.

Midland Expressway Ltd, which runs the road, has not yet commented on the figures beyond releasing them.