Extra 1,000 vehicles now use M6 toll road
An extra 1,000 cars and lorries are using the M6 Toll in Staffordshire each day, figures out today show.
An average of 45,473 vehicles used the toll road daily from July to September this year – up 2.27 per cent compared to 44,462 last year.
Weekend usage has shown the biggest surge and bosses today said they were delighted with the overall increase.
Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL) chief executive, Tom Fanning, said: "Traffic by its nature is very seasonal and we are pleased to see continued growth in all class categories.
"Traffic grew some 2.27 per cent across all days, with strong performance particularly at weekends with traffic up 6.65 per cent.
"This underlines the confidence that our customers place in our service as a reliable alternative to the unpredictable conditions that continue daily on the competing free section of the M6.
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"We are very pleased to continue to provide a first class premier and totally reliable service to our customers."
Usage from Monday to Friday is up by 0.95 per cent from 48,309 a day to 48,767.
During weekends and public holidays, 37,543 vehicles are travelling on the toll each day, up from 35,201or 6.65 per cent on last year.
It was revealed in August that an extra 1.6 million cars and lorries used the M6 Toll last year, boosting revenues as drivers sought an alternative to M6 hold-ups.
But Midland Expressway, which runs the 27-mile long M6 Toll, still racked up losses of more than £30 million caused by interest and repayments on the £900 million cost of building the road eight years ago.
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The toll motorway saw a surge in use last year, due to the continuing work taking place on the M6, which is causing delays to traffic, and a free month offered to vehicle fleets run by members of the Road Haulage Association.
Midland Expressway's annual financial report revealed that toll revenue in 2013 rose 13.5 per cent to £65.9m. Traffic increased 12.1 per cent to 14.65 million vehicles during the year, up 1.6 million on 2012.
But Mr Fanning has previously warned that an improved M6 'may provide significant challenges' to the M6 Toll in the longer term.
The M6 Toll opened in December 2003.
