Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridge toll charges increase on 1 April
Toll charges on the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges will increase from Tuesday 1st April 2025 for the first time in over seven years.
Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) rates will increase at the same time. A new scheme is also being introduced to enable unregistered customers who receive a PCN for the first time to choose to use the fine amount to open an account with merseyflow and have their PCN cancelled.
The current charges will apply for crossings made up until 23:59 on Monday 31 March, with the new toll charges set out in the table below applying for any journeys made from 00:00 on Tuesday 1 April.
New toll charges from 1st April 2025
- Headline toll charges are going up by 20% with prices of monthly passes and discounted journeys for registered customers increasing by similar amounts.
Moving forward, the intention is that future toll charge changes will be considered and implemented every three years unless there are exceptional circumstances that make more regular changes required or if the government changes enforcement fees.
- Local User Discount Scheme (LUDS) plan – the cost of an annual LUDS plan is increasing by 20% to £12 per year. However, there will be a discount to £10 to renew the LUDS plan each year for eligible Halton residents who renew via auto renewal and set up auto payment.
Any eligible Halton resident can sign up for auto renewal today by logging into their merseyflow account and making the switch to auto renewal. They can also set up a direct debit to make annual payments easier.
- Penalty Charge Notices – PCN rates will increase from £40 to £50. Anyone who pays within 14 days will be eligible for a discounted PCN rates which will be chargeable at £25. Charge certificates will increase from £60 to £75. There are no changes to enforcement fees being introduced on 1 April, as these are set by a separate piece of government legislation.
There will be a new option for unregistered customers who receive a PCN for the first time after 1st April 2025 and pay within 14 days to use their initial discounted £25 PCN fee to open an account with merseyflow and have their PCN cancelled. This will enable them to have discounted crossings in the future.
Full details of the changes being made from 1st April 2025 are available online at www.merseyflow.co.uk/april-2025-changes and more detail about the wider project finances is available online at https://merseygateway.co.uk/finances/.
The increases will:
- be the first in seven and a half years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened
- mean toll charges have increased by less than the cumulative RPI inflation rate – which has already reached 40% – since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in 2017.
Emails or letters have been sent to all vehicle owners registered with toll operator merseyflow to inform registered customers of the changes.
Cllr Stef Nelson, Halton Borough Council’s portfolio holder for Environment and Urban Renewal, said: “We understand that no one wants to see costs rise, but this will be the first time that toll charges on the bridges have increased since the Mersey Gateway Bridge first opened back in 2017. I would encourage anyone who uses the bridges to register with merseyflow to get discounted crossings and make paying for your crossings as simple as possible. You can register online at www.merseyflow.co.uk.”
Mike Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: “Customers don’t need to do anything differently, as merseyflow’s systems will have the new costs built in for journeys made from 1 April, but we want to ensure that people are aware of the changes to toll charges and other scheme details that have been introduced.”
Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridge toll charges to increase from April for first time in over seven years
Toll charges on the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges will increase from 1st April 2025 for the first time in over seven years.
Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) rates will also increase alongside the introduction of a new scheme to enable unregistered customers who receive a PCN for the first time to choose to use the fine to open an account with merseyflow and have their PCN cancelled.
Moving forward, the intention is that future toll charge changes will be considered and implemented every three years unless there are exceptional circumstances that make more regular changes required.
New toll charges from 1st April 2025
- Headline toll charges are going up by 20% with prices of monthly passes and discounted journeys for registered customers increasing by similar amounts.
- Local User Discount Scheme (LUDS) plan – the cost of an annual LUDS plan is increasing by 20% to £12 per year. However, there will be a discount to £10 for those eligible Halton residents who renew via auto renewal and set up auto payment.
Any eligible Halton resident can sign up for auto renewal today by logging into their merseyflow account and making the switch to auto renewal. They can also set up a direct debit to make annual payments easier..
- Penalty Charge Notices – PCN rates will increase from £40 to £50. Anyone who pays within 14 days will be eligible for a discounted PCN rates which will be chargeable at £25. Charge certificates will increase from £60 to £75. There are no changes to enforcement fees, as these are set by a separate piece of government legislation.
There will be a new option for unregistered customers who receive a PCN for the first time after 1st April 2025 and pay within 14 days to use their initial discounted £25 PCN fee to open an account with merseyflow and have their PCN cancelled. This will enable them to have discounted crossings in the future.
- Timetable for proposed future changes to toll charges – future changes to toll charges will be considered once every three years unless there are exceptional circumstances that require more frequent changes.
Full details of the changes being made from 1st April 2025 are available online at www.merseyflow.co.uk/april-2025-changes.
Halton councillors approved the series of scheme changes at a full council meeting on the evening of Monday 10 February.
The increases will:
- be the first in seven and a half years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened
- mean toll charges have increased by less than the cumulative RPI inflation rate – which has already reached 40% – since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in 2017.
Emails or letters will be sent to all vehicle owners registered with toll operator merseyflow by the end of February 2025 to inform registered customers of the changes.
Financial commitments make a 20% increase in toll charges essential
Halton Borough Council is responsible for funding the Mersey Gateway Project. Had councillors voted not to increase toll charges, the council would have to fund any shortfall in income from its own resources.
In order to fund the project’s financial commitments through until 2044, it was always expected that toll charges would need to increase annually in line with inflation.
However, Halton Borough Council has managed project finances carefully, so it has been able to defer these annual increases over the past seven years to minimise costs to motorists during this time.
If it hadn’t done this, toll charges would now be at £2.80 per crossing based on cumulative inflation over the past seven years. Following the exceptionally high level of inflation* between 2021 and 2023, the project now needs to raise additional revenue to meet the forecast expenditure going forward.
Cllr Stef Nelson, Halton Borough Council’s portfolio holder for Environment and Urban Renewal, said: “This will be the first time that toll charges on the bridges have increased since the Mersey Gateway Bridge first opened back in 2017. We understand that no one wants to see toll charges increased but it is essential that we do so to meet the project’s financial commitments.”
He added: “I would encourage anyone who uses the bridges to register with merseyflow to get discounted crossings and make paying for your crossings as simple as possible. You can register online at www.merseyflow.co.uk.”
*Cumulative inflation – RPI increases since 2017
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative RPI inflation % increase since 2017 | 3.3% | 5.8% | 7.0% | 12.2% | 26.4% | 37.5% | 41.3% |
| In year inflation % increase annually | 3.3% | 2.4% | 1.1% | 4.9% | 12.6% | 8.9% | 2.7% |
| Class 2 vehicles toll charge once adjusted for cumulative inflation | £2.07 | £2.12 | £2.14 | £2.24 | £2.53 | £2.75 | £2.83 |
| Class 2 vehicles toll charge under proposed approach | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2.40 |
Halton councillors to consider recommended increases for Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridge toll charges
Halton councillors will consider recommendations to make a series of scheme changes, including increasing toll charges and Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) rates for drivers crossing the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridges at a full council meeting next month.
The recommended changes, which if approved, could take place from 1st April 2025, include:
- An increase in headline toll charges by 20% with a similar increase in the price of discounted crossings
- An increase from £10 to £12 in the annual cost of a Local User Discount Scheme plan for eligible Halton residents not using auto renewal
- Consideration to allow unregistered customers who receive a PCN for the first time after 1st April 2025 to open an account with merseyflow and have their PCN cancelled. This would enable them to have discounted crossings in the future.
- An increase in Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) rates from £40 to £50
- Plans for future changes to toll charges to be considered every three years
The recommendations are detailed in Council papers published today alongside an updated Road User Charging Scheme Order and a report from the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board* summarising the feedback from the consultation that took place last year.
They will be considered by Halton councillors at a full meeting of Halton Borough Council at 6.30pm on Monday 10 February.
Financial commitments make a 20% increase in toll charges essential
Halton Borough Council is responsible for funding the Mersey Gateway Project. Should the Council vote not to increase toll charges, it would have to fund any shortfall in income from its own resources.
In order to fund the project’s financial commitments through until 2044, it was always expected that toll charges would need to increase annually in line with inflation.
However, Halton Borough Council has managed project finances carefully, so it has been able to defer these annual increases over the past seven years to minimise costs to motorists during this time.
If it hadn’t done this, toll charges would now be at £2.80 per crossing based on cumulative inflation** over the past seven years. Following the exceptionally high level of inflation between 2021 and 2023, the project now needs to raise additional revenue to meet the forecast expenditure going forward.
The Mersey Gateway Crossings Board held a consultation in late 2024 to ask for feedback on the proposed changes to toll charges and scheme details. There were around 10,000 responses from a customer base of nearly 400,000 registered people.
As a result of this feedback new initiatives are being considered for unregistered customers receiving PCNs for the first time, and to review how businesses manage large fleets of vehicles in single accounts, but the consultation didn’t identify any viable alternatives to increasing toll charges by 20%.
Mike Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: “Having considered the consultation responses alongside other relevant factors, particularly the long-term financial viability of the project, we are recommending the 20% increase in toll charges to Halton Borough Council as a necessary measure.”
He added: “We do understand that many people will be concerned about this increase. We’ve managed the project carefully to keep toll charges at the same level since 2017 but that’s no longer sustainable. The financial reality of the situation is that, without any additional government funding, the only way to meet the ongoing costs of the project is increasing toll charges and our financial modelling shows that a 20% increase is required on this occasion to meet the project’s financial commitments.”
Recommended toll charges from 1st April 2025
The recommended increases would:
- be the first in seven and a half years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened
- mean toll charges have increased by less than the cumulative RPI inflation rate – which has already reached 40% – since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in 2017.
The recommended toll charges from 1st April are set out in the tables below:
If the recommended increases are approved, emails or letters will be sent to all vehicle owners registered with toll operator merseyflow over the next few weeks to inform them of the changes.
Summary of other recommended changes to toll charges and scheme details from 1st April 2025
- Local User Discount Scheme (LUDS) plan – it is recommended that the cost of an annual LUDS plan would also increase by 20% to £12 per year. However, there would be a discount to £10 for those eligible Halton residents who renew via auto renewal with a direct debit. Any eligible Halton resident can sign up for auto renewal / direct debit today by logging into their merseyflow account and making the switch auto renewal/direct debit
- Penalty Charge Notices – PCN rates would increase from £40 to £50, with anyone who pays within 14 days eligible for a discounted PCN rates which would be chargeable at £25. Charge certificates where applicable would increase from £60 to £75. There would be no changes to enforcement fees which are set by a separate piece of government legislation.
There would be a new option considered for unregistered customers who receive a PCN for the first time after 1st April 2025 and pay within 14 days to use their initial discounted £25 PCN fee to open an account with merseyflow and have their PCN cancelled. This would enable them to have discounted crossings in the future.
- Timetable for proposed future changes to toll charges – plans for future changes to toll charges to be made once every three years unless there are exceptional circumstances that require more frequent changes.
*The Mersey Gateway Crossings Board is a special purpose vehicle established by Halton Borough Council with the delegated authority to deliver the Mersey Gateway Bridge Project. It operates as a commercial (though not-for-profit) organisation on an arm’s length basis.
**Cumulative inflation – RPI increases since 2017
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative RPI inflation % increase since 2017 | 3.3% | 5.8% | 7.0% | 12.2% | 26.4% | 37.5% | 41.3% |
| In year inflation % increase annually | 3.3% | 2.4% | 1.1% | 4.9% | 12.6% | 8.9% | 2.7% |
| Class 2 vehicles toll charge once adjusted for cumulative inflation | £2.07 | £2.12 | £2.14 | £2.24 | £2.53 | £2.75 | £2.83 |
| Class 2 vehicles toll charge under proposed approach | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2 | £2.40 |
Halton communities can benefit in 2025 through Time Bank community initiative
Community organisations in Halton are being encouraged to sign up for the charitable Time Bank scheme led by Merseylink and Merseyflow for free-of-charge expert help during 2025.
The Time Bank initiative aims to assist key organisations, including schools, colleges, charities, and community groups, by allowing Halton communities to benefit from the skills and expertise of the Merseylink and Merseyflow teams.
This innovative local support scheme, developed as part of the Mersey Gateway Project, has run since 2015 and will return for another year following a highly successful 2024.
Last year’s scheme provided support to Halton Haven Hospice to improve its Memory Garden, which involved weeding, cleaning, and a fresh coat of paint for the hospice’s surrounding areas.
The Halton Village Millennium Green Trust benefited from enhancements to the green, with assistance in clearing the bases of fruit trees, laying down weed-preventative membrane, and placement of bark chips on the membrane.
Community groups, charities, and voluntary organizations interested in applying for support from the Time Bank are requested to email info@merseylink.com for an application form.
A minimum of 30 days per year are committed through the Time Bank scheme, and assistance can include anything from regeneration activities, career advice, technical advice, general maintenance, painting, and litter picking, as well as any other suitable suggestions applicants can provide.
Karen Atherton, Merseylink Liaison Officer and Time Bank Lead said: “We’ve had an amazing response to our Time Bank initiative in the past, with incredible projects that truly benefit local charities and the Halton community. Our team is raring to go for 2025 and is excited to dive into new opportunities. We urge any organisation needing support to apply early and reach out to see how we can help.”
Emma Newton, Head of HR & Compliance at Merseyflow, said: “We’re proud to support the work of amazing local charities through the Time Bank initiative. Getting involved in community challenges brings our team together and provides the opportunity to engage with other volunteers and local charities. We’re excited to see what new projects we will be giving time to in 2025.”
Download your Timebank application form here
This year’s Time Bank is open for applications until Friday 28th March 2025. For more information, email info@merseylink.com.
Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee Bridge toll charges consultation gets underway
A consultation around proposed changes to toll charges and scheme details on the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges gets underway today (Monday 4 November) and will last for six weeks.
Anyone can participate by visiting www.merseygateway.co.uk/consultation2024, where Halton Borough Council and the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board (MGCB) have published detailed consultation information, including a new draft Road User Charging Scheme Order.
Emails or letters are being sent to all vehicle owners who are registered as users of the bridges with toll operator merseyflow over the next few weeks, and consultation feedback forms are also available at Halton Direct Links in Widnes and Runcorn and at the merseyflow Walk-In Centre at Manor Park in Runcorn.
The consultation lasts until Monday 16 December. Once it is complete, the feedback will then be considered, alongside the financial requirements of the project, at a full meeting of Halton Borough Council early in 2025, where a decision on any charges will be made.
The proposed changes, which could take place from 1 April 2025, include:
- An increase in toll charges by approximately 20%
- An increase of £2 in the annual cost of a Local User Discount Scheme plan for those not using auto renewal
- An increase in Penalty Charge Notices from £40 to £50
The proposed increase would:
- be the first in seven and a half years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened
- mean toll charges have increased by less than the cumulative RPI inflation rate – which has already reached 40% – since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in 2017.
The consultation also sets out and asks for views on a proposed timetable for future changes to toll charges and asks for feedback on what incentives would encourage people to open an account with tolling operator merseyflow.
In order to fund the project over its lifetime, it was always expected that toll charges would need to increase annually in line with inflation, but Halton Borough Council has been able to defer annual increases to minimise costs to motorists.
The MGCB’s recommendations set out a forward-looking plan where, if toll charges are increased by around 20% next April, then, barring unforeseen circumstances, they will remain at that level for three years. This would mean that by April 2028, toll charges would have increased just once in the first 11 years of the project.
Customers registered with toll operator merseyflow would continue to get discounted crossings where they are eligible as set out below:
- Registered pre-pay customers and monthly pass holders – specific discounted prices have not yet been finalised, but it is anticipated they would also increase by around 20%. This would mean a toll charge of £2.16 for sticker registered Class 2 vehicles compared to £2.40 for unregistered Class 2 vehicles.
- Local User Discount Scheme plan holders – the cost of a LUDS plan would increase by £2. However, there is a proposal for a discount to £10 for those eligible Halton residents who renew via auto renewal.
- Penalty Charge Notices – it is proposed that PCNs would increase from £40 to £50 in line with the toll charge increase.
Mike Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: “As part of this consultation we’re asking for people’s views on a range of issues like how often toll charges should change in the future and the proposed adjustments to the Local User Discount Scheme and PCN fees, as well as the headline changes in toll charges.”
He added: “This is an opportunity for people to contribute their views to inform the decision-making process in these areas. However, we are not consulting on the principle of toll charges. This was settled at the public inquiry held for the Mersey Gateway Project in 2009 and since then has been incorporated into the legal documentation for the tolling system.”