M6 Toll

[CarltonA]

I've not been on the above road since 2006. Can someone clarify how it works now? I'll be going northbound from the M42 and coming off at the A38 for Lichfield. The website says there are card payment lanes and those turning off before the end get a lower rate. Is the toll just automatically adjusted downwards if you leave on a nearer junction? Last time I threw cash into a receptacle, I think it was £3.75.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've not been on the above road since 2006. Can someone clarify how it works now? I'll be going northbound from the M42 and coming off at the A38 for Lichfield. The website says there are card payment lanes and those turning off before the end get a lower rate. Is the toll just automatically adjusted downwards if you leave on a nearer junction? Last time I threw cash into a receptacle, I think it was £3.75.

Card only, yes. Actual cards, phone payments aren't accepted.

The locations of the toll booths deal with the fact that some journeys are cheaper. It's gone up a lot though, over £8 for a full length trip.

They're in the process of installing an account based ANPR option and adding phone payment facilities, though don't plan to get rid of the booths.

 

[CarltonA]

Thanks for the information. It is £8.60 for the full length it seems and £5.80 if you turn off earlier (for a car).

 

[Ken X]

It has contactless card payment. Just touch and go.

 

[londiscape]

It has contactless card payment. Just touch and go.

Didn't work for me last time I was there - had to put the card in the slot then it spat it back out - Early July, southbound toll plaza, full length £8.20

Of course could have been user error! Also if you need a receipt I make sure to press the button before putting the card in, not sure if this is needed though

 

[BJames]

Gosh - that seems quite expensive. I don't drive and never been in a car with anyone going this way, is the time saving worth the cost? I assume it must be but curious now.

 

[londiscape]

It's a very nice road, very smooth to drive and often empty, as a recently qualified driver I haven't yet been on the normal M6 through the outskirts of Brum, on my three trips so far from London to the NW the M6 has always had some blockage according to radio traffic reports.

I would say it's worth it, with the caveat that the toll goes on company expenses though! And Norton Canes is a good services to stop at when needing a break between London and, e.g. Wigan or Preston.

As always, YMMV.

 

[bramling]

Gosh - that seems quite expensive. I don't drive and never been in a car with anyone going this way, is the time saving worth the cost? I assume it must be but curious now.

Yes definitely it cuts off so much hassle.

 

[OscarH]

It's certainly not cheap, but the section of the M6 near Wednesbury is a foul road surface (not sure how a major motorway can be allowed to be that bad), before considering the traffic, so if you can afford it then it is nice

The locations of the toll booths deal with the fact that some journeys are cheaper.

I get how it works for entering late, how does that work for exiting early though, as I thought the booths were on entry only?

 

[matt]

I've not been on the above road since 2006. Can someone clarify how it works now? I'll be going northbound from the M42 and coming off at the A38 for Lichfield. The website says there are card payment lanes and those turning off before the end get a lower rate. Is the toll just automatically adjusted downwards if you leave on a nearer junction? Last time I threw cash into a receptacle, I think it was £3.75.

Is time important as the A446 and A38 follow it from the M42 junction 9? (unless you are on expenses)

 

[Bald Rick]

I only use it if the main M6 is showing congestion more than the usual hold up at J8/9.

It’s the same distance either way, and stopping for the toll booth* takes a little time. So if you are sticking to the speed limit there’s not much in it time wise.

I was a bit surprised last week when I saw it at £8.60 with no price differentials for weekends / late at night. When it opened in 2003 it was £3 (reduced to £2 for the first few months as an introductory offerIIRC). Allowing for inflation it would now be £6.

*in my experience, whichever toll booth I pick is invariably the one that has in front of me the driver who hasn’t got a card / can’t work out how to pay / can’t read / etc.

It's certainly not cheap, but the section of the M6 near Wednesbury is a foul road surface (not sure how a major motorway can be allowed to be that bad), before considering the traffic, so if you can afford it then it is nice


I get how it works for entering late, how does that work for exiting early though, as I thought the booths were on entry only?

If you exit early in either direction, there’s a toll booth for you.

 

[OscarH]

If you exit early in either direction, there’s a toll booth for you.

Ah, thanks. I've only used it once, and that was joining late and going till the end (very much not intentionally, I blame the signs!)

 

[gordonthemoron]

It is rumoured that there are no speed traps on the Toll Road

 

[OscarH]

It is rumoured that there are no speed traps on the Toll Road

That's what you're paying for isn't it

 

[Bletchleyite]

Didn't work for me last time I was there - had to put the card in the slot then it spat it back out - Early July, southbound toll plaza, full length £8.20

Of course could have been user error! Also if you need a receipt I make sure to press the button before putting the card in, not sure if this is needed though

If you've used contactless often enough to trigger the request for a PIN I think it then asks for it to be inserted old style as there is no PIN pad.

 

[londiscape]

It is rumoured that there are no speed traps on the Toll Road

I have to be a bit careful as I'm still within the 2 years probation for new drivers (6 points and you're out) but I think this is true, most traffic does over 80mph on the M6 toll. If i do the usual 10% plus speedo overread I get overtaken (I try not to do more than that). So I guess the normal speed must be about 85-90mph.

Given the high quality of the road and modern cars I'm not surprised, there is an argument for increasing the speed limit on this road to 80mph.

 

[Bald Rick]

It is rumoured that there are no speed traps on the Toll Road

Not permanent cameras, No.

However local plod can often be seen. I was on it earlyish one Sunday morning, and saw an unmarked car come out about 300 metres in front of me at the Chasewater junction and go hareing after a Beamer that was at least ton up; when I passed the slip road there were about a dozen police cars (marked and unmarked) lined up ready to go for the next fish. Then by the toll booth there were about another dozen vehicles all pulled over having a Sunday morning conversation… I dread to think how much overtime the Police paid out that Sunday morning!

 

[Bletchleyite]

It is rumoured that there are no speed traps on the Toll Road

But there definitely are on the section of the M42 it shares with!

 

[londiscape]

If you've used contactless often enough to trigger the request for a PIN I think it then asks for it to be inserted old style as there is no PIN pad.

I thought the same the first time, but the second time was just after using it with a PIN, must be an equipment malfunction

 

[TPO]

I've not been on the above road since 2006. Can someone clarify how it works now? I'll be going northbound from the M42 and coming off at the A38 for Lichfield. The website says there are card payment lanes and those turning off before the end get a lower rate. Is the toll just automatically adjusted downwards if you leave on a nearer junction? Last time I threw cash into a receptacle, I think it was £3.75.

The northbound on the M42 is more of an issue. Roadworks from about jn 3 to the M6 toll jn. It is frequently in "car park mode." So much so, that the avoidance routes Inc,use M5-M6 southbound to drop onto M42 off the M6. When that also snarls up then its M5 jn9-A46-M69-M1. Or cut across from M5 jn7 on the A422 via I kberrow and Arrow, ends up on the A46.

To get to the A38, the route M5-M6 southbound is the usual M42 jam avoidance.

Timing is also important as there are quite a few overnight closures on the M42 roadworks.

(You don't say where you are coming from, I travel up the M5 then across towards Derby/Nottingham/M1 northbound quite regularly so get to know when to go around and by what route.)

TPO

 

[Cheshire Rover]

That's what you're paying for isn't it

When I was travelling for business regularly I used the M6 Toll road, and frequently saw mobile camera units on the overbridges approaching the Toll Booths Northbound.

 

[SteveM70]

Gosh - that seems quite expensive. I don't drive and never been in a car with anyone going this way, is the time saving worth the cost? I assume it must be but curious now.

Typically saves half an hour. Depends how much you value your time or if you’re in a hurry

And Norton Canes is a good services to stop at when needing a break between London and, e.g. Wigan or Preston.

I should hope so too, it costs over £8 to get in! (But last time I was there it was a Costa, so that makes it a bad services in my book

the section of the M6 near Wednesbury is a foul road surface (not sure how a major motorway can be allowed to be that bad)

Because the disruption a closure for resurfacing would cause would be horrific. Although I’m sure the toll road people would like the extra business

 

[LampPete]

I love it, I tend to join at the A5/A38 junction heading north. It saves at least 20 mins and so much easer. I would happily pay all the way to the north west if they ever extended it!

 

[Meerkat]

the Toll Road is like taking a rest - it’s so relaxingly easy, a break from hard concentration staring at the car in front ready for concertinas/muppetry, watching for speed cameras, and trying not to get distracted by the tailgating Audi behind you, as per the M6 in Staffs and the M42. Almost no lorries and few old folk doing 55 (as it would be a waste of money) means fewer lanehoggers getting in the way - can sometimes blat along in lane 1.
And £8 is a bargain to avoid seeing the West Midlands!
The only downer is the rubbish services. Not a great selection and a terrible layout (so really congested getting to the loos), and particularly northbound it seems to take ages to get in and out from the motorway.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I've never used it as a driver, mostly because my regular journeys through that part of the world were between Yorkshire (occasionally Lancashire) and the South West of England. Any time gained on the toll road would likely be eaten up by the M42, in comparison to using the regular M6 and M5.

Been on coaches that used it between the North West and London, and I was quite impressed with the smoothness.

 

[BluePenguin]

W

Gosh - that seems quite expensive. I don't drive and never been in a car with anyone going this way, is the time saving worth the cost? I assume it must be but curious now.

We always avoid it due to the extortionate cost and travel along the A5 instead - almost following the West Coast Mainline

At night before 10pm we also use the Blackwall Tunnel over the Dartford Crossing to save a few pounds when it is less busy

 

[Merle Haggard]

The Government was really clever in creating the M6 Toll.

Because it cost them nothing and, by diverting some traffic from the M6, postponed the need for capacity improvements on the section through Birmingham, saving them money.

Was that the real motive? - our am I being cynical again?.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Was that the real motive?

The M6 Toll was originally conceived as a publicly owned and financed motorway which would take the strain off the M6 through Birmingham, which was a bit of a bodge job in the beginning as it wasn't meant to carry through traffic in the way that it does now. It was then decided in the late 80s by the government of the day that it would be built privately, with the intention of building a second phase northwards towards Knutsford.

Expanding the M6 through Birmingham is really not an option for various reasons, particularly the fact that any expansion would require huge amounts of rebuilding. So, I think it was a fair and reasonable decision to create the M6 Toll, especially as the private operator took on 100% of the risk of the project in exchange for being allowed to freely set the tolls on the route.

I think in all fairness, the problem with the M6 is that it's simply overcrowded, and there isn't an easy solution. Perhaps if the M5 was extended to the west of the West Midlands conurbation to the M6 around the M6 Toll junction, then the M6-M5-M40 route towards London might take some of the pressure off the M6 through Birmingham.

 

[Bald Rick]

The Government was really clever in creating the M6 Toll.

Because it cost them nothing and, by diverting some traffic from the M6, postponed the need for capacity improvements on the section through Birmingham, saving them money.

Was that the real motive? - our am I being cynical again?.

It did cost them *something* as the design and the first consents process was largely completed on the basis of it being a publicly funded motorway - the nattily titled A446(M). There was some redesign when it was swapped into a privately funded scheme.

But yes, the whole point of the project was to relieve the M6 though north Birmingham, which to a certain extent it has failed to do. I often wonder if the costs of upgrading J4-J11 of the M6 to Smart motorway standards had been spent on buying out the owners of M6 toll instead, whether that would have avoided the need to do it.

I think in all fairness, the problem with the M6 is that it's simply overcrowded, and there isn't an easy solution. Perhaps if the M5 was extended to the west of the West Midlands conurbation to the M6 around the M6 Toll junction, then the M6-M5-M40 route towards London might take some of the pressure off the M6 through Birmingham.

Of course precisely that was proposed with Western Orbital Road.
a decent article on subject can be found on Pathetic Motorways.

Pathetic Motorways

Examines and pokes fun at some of the lesser known British motorways. Includes photos and videos

pathetic.org.uk

extract…

It was one of the largest plans in the late 1980s (with the preferred route announced in March 1989), survived the 1994 cuts still on the "Priority 1 List", was cancelled in 1996, then resurrected in downgraded form in 2001 by the West Midlands Area Multi-Modal Study as the Wolverhampton Western Bypass and the Stourbridge Western Bypass.

 

[Merle Haggard]

It did cost them *something* as the design and the first consents process was largely completed on the basis of it being a publicly funded motorway - the nattily titled A446(M). There was some redesign when it was swapped into a privately funded scheme.

But yes, the whole point of the project was to relieve the M6 though north Birmingham, which to a certain extent it has failed to do. I often wonder if the costs of upgrading J4-J11 of the M6 to Smart motorway standards had been spent on buying out the owners of M6 toll instead, whether that would have avoided the need to do it.



Of course precisely that was proposed with Western Orbital Road.
a decent article on subject can be found on Pathetic Motorways.

Pathetic Motorways

Examines and pokes fun at some of the lesser known British motorways. Includes photos and videos

pathetic.org.uk

extract…

Thanks, informative.

But as an aside I notice that the term 'smart motorway' seems to have disappeared. Certainly on the J15-J16 bit, the signs were suddenly changed to 'upgrading to all lanes running'.

Perhaps because some don't think that 'smart' is the right adjective...