Dartford Crossing

[wutang]

You can set up a dart charge account and pre pay (say £10) and every time you use the crossing it deducts from the balance, or you can call the call centre and pay over the phone.

as someone local to the crossing I am all for anything that helps reduce the permanent que up to the tolls.

[Pistonbroke666]

Putting aside the resentment of paying a fee, any Thurrock resident would support a scheme that reduces congestion on the QEII.

When the bridge backs up, Thurrock is gridlocked.

[whitevanman]

You can pay up to midnight the day AFTER you have travelled..So really no excuses I suppose..

I'm still a little concerned on what happens when travelling north once all the toll & barriers have been removed..What is it now, six,seven lanes all going into the two lane tunnels.

I'm sure they are remodelling etc. but with human nature and ***** being ***** i still think we'll have an accident there almost every day in the beginning..

Did the crossing every work day for six years, can't say I miss it tbh...

[Greeners]

Originally Posted by whitevanman

You can pay up to midnight the day AFTER you have travelled..So really no excuses I suppose..

I'm still a little concerned on what happens when travelling north once all the toll & barriers have been removed..What is it now, six,seven lanes all going into the two lane tunnels.

I'm sure they are remodelling etc. but with human nature and ***** being ***** i still think we'll have an accident there almost every day in the beginning..

Did the crossing every work day for six years, can't say I miss it tbh...

One completed it'll be 4 lanes in each direction......The problem is the tunnels are too low for the over height vehicles and that's what screws up the northbound side

[Greeners]

Most of the congestion was caused by breakdowns at the tolls, or collisions immediately before or after the booths when it was wacky races and everyone changed lanes

[Snetty]

Originally Posted by Greeners

One completed it'll be 4 lanes in each direction......The problem is the tunnels are too low for the over height vehicles and that's what screws up the northbound side

I believe the height limit is something like 15 foot 9 inches which accounts for most vehicles with the exception of abnormal loads. However hgv's are banned from the outside lane in both tunnels.

[alanjay]

Originally Posted by Greeners

Not true....the govt sold off the M25 and dartford crossing about 6 years ago in a £6.5Bn contract. The company I work for now "owns" and maintains it.

The Contract to collect the tolls is just that, they electronically collect the money and it goes straight to the treasury.

There's a good reason why the boots and barriers are still in place, there is a huge amount of works to remove the booths, realign the road and replace the technology that ran the existing signals and signs.

So the barriers are still in place to regulate the flow of traffic, especially into the tunnels, as they have to be able to hold the traffic in the event of an incident and the escorted runs.

Once work is completed in the spring, save a few over height lorries, it should be much improved.

As OP I accept your point "There's a good reason why the boots and barriers are still in place, there is a huge amount of works to remove the booths, realign the road and replace the technology that ran the existing signals and signs".

However what I disagree with is having to pay the increased charge for the faster traffic flow which I'm told I won't get until the removal of booths etc. is completed.

Worst of all being told that although I'm paying the higher charge I could experience slower movement than before.

As said in my OP, I'll be using the crossing on Sunday to attend the Halfway House met, after which I'll report whether I got the faster service promised when I paid the increase.

[Greeners]

Originally Posted by alanjay

As OP I accept your point "There's a good reason why the boots and barriers are still in place, there is a huge amount of works to remove the booths, realign the road and replace the technology that ran the existing signals and signs".

However what I disagree with is having to pay the increased charge for the faster traffic flow which I'm told I won't get until the removal of booths etc. is completed.

Worst of all being told that although I'm paying the higher charge I could experience slower movement than before.

As said in my OP, I'll be using the crossing on Sunday to attend the Halfway House met, after which I'll report whether I got the faster service promised when I paid the increase.

The reason for the change in charge, is simply that our contract to collect cash at the booth has ended and the new electronic charge has started. The new charge started on day 1 of the new contract

[Polly]

Ah I think I understand now. As someone fortunate enough to never be anywhere near Dartford, maybe I can explain.
Think of it this way: In order to save costs your local petrol station has decided to install "pay at the pump" petrol pumps, unfortunately these are expensive, so they increase the price of fuel in order to pay for them, and while they doing the changeover there will only be one operative fuel pump so obviously there will be long delays, but don't worry about it, because after the new pumps are installed the company will make a massive profit and (nearly) everyone will be happy😳

[Time Searcher]

We have lived in Central Portugal since mid-2009, usually flying back to the UK and hiring cars during our visits. But this year we are driving back in the ZT-T (which we took with us in our move!) for an extended trip and will be using the Shuttle, M20, M25, M1, M6 to go to our first stop in N.Wales. We intend going back to Pt. a month later...
It seems that the Dart Charge will apply as we will be going through during the day-time, I'm not over worried about the actual charge but the mechanics of paying for the 2 crossings...
I see that the pre-payment cost of £10 exists as against the £2:50 single crossing cost but what is the duration of validity of the pre-payment, I can't 'see' this on any of the official sites!
Any advice would be helpful, thanks.