Forums Forums Local News Mersey tunnel £1.60?

It's a tax....can't be avoided...in a few years it will be £2 then £2.50. No one will complain because that's life. In the last 20 years we've had strikes, riots, looting, more riots, mass demos and all sorts. Governments have just weathered the storms knowing that eventually we will shut up, turn round, go home, and budget for the next wave of new taxes. Poll tax to council tax to petrol tax to green tax to bedroom tax...Having more than two children is now becoming taxable, there will be dog taxes, and anything that's taxable...anyone who watches history programs will know where this is going. Sorry to rant....but it can destroy the soul knowing there's not a damn thing ONE person can do about it.

Makes me sick as well,soon be that we can t afford to go to work.Pity the ones who have to pay the tunnel fare to go back and fourth to work everyday.And as for taxing on pets its an expense to keep one going.

I Wish it was only £1.60 on the bus.

Really ? Not if you had to pay the fuel for the bus as well.

Interestingly, the £1.60 price sign has been on the back of the sign boards for months, awaiting the day when the so-called 'democratic' decision to increase charges would be taken. It rather suggests that everyone knew the increase would be voted for and was a foregone conclusion...

One other tunnel gripe: on the staffed booths, why isn't the gap between the booth and the payment bucket longer? That way, someone could be paying and going through the barrier while someone behind them could have their change from the personnel. Instead, there's an inevitable hold up.

AND ANOTHER GROUSE... at £1.60 that's at least one extra coin that has to wind its way into the mechanism. Multiply that by all the cars going through and you'll see how it can lead to jams.

AND ONE MORE GROUSE... if you get change at the booth, you're only given 5 x 20p. As you have to tender three of them, you won't have enough for the return trip, and will have to get more change. Grrr!

Fast tag would solve all your problems.

Totally agree. I would go further.

London has had number plate recognition since the congestion charge was introduced. I've been on highways in Florida that have had this for years also. Why not Mersey Tunnels? You could remove the need for booths and cashiers in one swoop, saving money (for either reducing the toll or paying the debt quicker) and you'd reduce congestion as cars wouldn't be forced to stop.

I sometimes think Mersey Tunnels must employ someone just to dream up ways of spending money on something / anything other than paying off the original debt.

The area around the booths seems to have become the most over-engineered construction. Signs everywhere, rumble strips, red lane markings, LED signs (so we know who the cashier is!) and plant pots - every other month there's some new 'innovation' down there. On top of this the "Manned" signs were changed to "Staffed" and have now changed again to become "Attended".

All the time the most basic things that would improve the driver experience get ignored.

Ya-boo, spoilsport !!!!
I rely on the low cost through the tunnel on my bike - or I simply would not go. Then the L'pool shops lose out because I will buy on line.

Snod

Sorry to arrive late here.

I've long suggested only having booths for payment on one side and free the other. A reasonable increase to compensate would suffice.

The savings on staff and equipment as well as cutting tailbacks and increasing safety (no tailbacks into the tunnel) make me wonder why his hasn't already been done.

I've always wondered why they pay huge police wages to people that just move traffic cones, employ trained traffic cone movers at half the price and shift the police on to some real policework on the streets. I'm not sure how many other small tunnels employ their own police force, one that does very little and cannot apparently even wash their own vehicles.

Average speed cameras located at each end of the tunnel would be more effective than overpaid cone marshals.

In this digital age it's staggering that you can't pre pay via an app and travel via registration recognition cameras. As others have said, the tunnel seems to exist in order to waste as much money as possible while battering the regular commuters with unfair price increases.

I recall my grandmother telling me that it was promised many years go when the debt was paid off, the tunnel would be free. If true then it certainly all makes sense why they appear to enjoy squandering our money.

The tunnel profits also support Arriva Buses that don't make enough profit on their own and they prop up, almost entirely the huge loss making ferry service. Thats probably the main reason that the tunnel seems like such a bottomless money pit.

Anyone noticed the 2 new police vehicles? The old people carriers have been replaced by 2 new 62 plate ones...

Mersey Tunnels Police officers hold the office of constable. Unlike most police services in the UK, the service is answerable to the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive[1] rather than the Home Office. The Executive also appoints the service's officers who are formally sworn in as Police Constables by a Justice of the Peace.[2] As of 2010 the service consisted of around 55 officers across the various ranks. The service's jurisdiction consists of the tunnels themselves, marshaling areas, entrance/exit roads and all Mersey Tunnels premises. Officers execute their duties in accordance with The Mersey Tunnels Bylaws.[3]
The tunnels service have primary responsibility for these areas, meaning they enforce the Mersey Tunnels bylaws and like all other police services the various and relevant UK statute law/legislation although perhaps by the nature of the role primarily the Road Traffic Act. Mersey Tunnels Police officers are the first line responders to any incidents or emergencies within the tunnels or premises although certain incidents and enquiries of a serious nature may be dealt with by Merseyside Police in accordance with local agreements between the two services.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersey_Tunnels_Police

So let me get this right, the two tunnels need (or employ) FIFTY FIVE police officers.

Even if they are all on a constables pay (£27k - £36k depending on length of service) if we average out on the low estimate of £30k p/a that gives a bill of £1,650,000 p/a, which is over £4,500 PER DAY.

This is for a police force that covers only a few miles of road, and, in their own words admit, use the resources of Merseyside Police when things get tough.

And we wonder why the fees keep going up and the original bill is years over its expected final payment.

If the amount owed on the tunnels is ever paid off, and the fees scrapped or reduced to a nominal sum, how many do you think it will be decided are needed then ?

What worries me is the fact they don't answer to the home office, clearly they are a private police force operating under maritime law.

A year later, it's gone up to £1.70.