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.”