M6 Toll

[Bletchleyite]

On the journey to Glasgow from Milton Keynes it took a good 40 minutes off the trip. One trip on the M6 near Walsall/Bescot will change your mind on what offers value for money!

I've generally found it's taken enough traffic off the route through Birmingham that that's never as busy as it used to be, but the Toll is certainly a more relaxing driving experience and Norton Canes services I find nicer than Corley and t'other one to the south I forget the name of.

 

[Ted633]

Don't often have to drive around Birmingham, but when I do I usually time my travel to avoid being in Birmingham at peak time. However, I'll usually have someone else in the car, so when getting to the end of the M40 they'll have a look at Google Maps and see what it all looks like. If there is no significant delay (no areas of 'red' on the map) we'll go for the classic route. Personally I prefer the M42/M5/M6 route as it is a bit more interesting.

 

[DM352]

Some may disagree as in the road forums but feel when the M6 Toll was built, the local then OK roads like the A5, A38, A446 it followed were downgraded with extra roundabouts, speed limit cameras/ cuts, and more lights encouraging to use the toll route. Would not have minded but joining it at the A5/A38 south it is full fare for half the toll route.

I was glad at the time they put a double bridge in for the Lich-Walsall route though that is a separate discussion!

 

[william.martin]

They seem to of put the price up to £8.60, or is that the night rate?

 

[Bald Rick]

They seem to of put the price up to £8.60, or is that the night rate?

It was £8.60 in August, see post #11

 

[william.martin]

It was £8.60 in August, see post #11

Sorry, I meant they have put it up from £8.60, on Sunday night I am sure it was £8.95 however I had just done a 5 hour flight and was more focused on the road than a sign.

 

[Bald Rick]

Sorry, I meant they have put it up from £8.60, on Sunday night I am sure it was £8.95 however I had just done a 5 hour flight and was more focused on the road than a sign.

According to their website it is now £8.90.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I have come across the notion that the M6 Toll owners are happy to price most HGVs off 'their' road, given the heavier road maintenance costs that HGVs inevitably bring - and in contrast to some earlier traffic modelling which assumed more HGVs would take the toll road.

I don't know the road well enough, and I'm guessing usage figures might be commercially confidential? That said, I assume it's possible to extrapolate broad usage figures using other data?

Anyway, almost nine quid for a car does feel like a lot.

 

[Ediswan]

Anyway, almost nine quid for a car does feel like a lot.

Does anybody have a recent comparison with the French Autoroute rates ? Last time I had an example, they were about 1/3 that of the M6(Toll) for an equivalent distance.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Does anybody have a recent comparison with the French Autoroute rates ? Last time I had an example, they were about 1/3 that of the M6(Toll) for an equivalent distance.

So the Autoroute A16 between Chambly (a town north of Paris) and Beauvais Airport (the Ryanair "hut" that they say is in Paris but isn't) is around the same distance as the M6 toll journey (43.3km/43.5km).
That journey on the A16 would cost you 4.90 EUR, so around £4.20 at current exchange rates i.e. less than half of the M6 toll costs.
Although, if you took the most expensive toll route in France (the A14, from Paris to a western suburb called Orgeval), you'd be looking at 10EUR, which is currently around £8.74.
But the per km cost on that motorway is more than 3 times the nearest comparator, so that really is an outlier.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I think I'll avoid the toll road when I next drive past Birmingham in 11 days' time given that price and the fact that it'll be early afternoon, so not rush hour.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I rarely take the toll as nearly nine pounds isn't worth the saving unless there's an accident on route classique. I love the M40 though: I set my cruise to virtually 80 on much it outside of peak hours, which is just under 80 in reality and within the 10% +2 loophole from 70. Doesn't stop me (very) occasionally going a bit faster though (!) Diesel prices have been high since I've had mine though, and its economy really dwindles above 80. In the 70s it will achieve well above 50mpg if the tyres are pumped to the highest safe level, which is around 40PSI. I didn't take it on either the way down to or the way back from Berkshire just before Christmas: in fact both ways I ended up going on the M5 then south of Brum on the M42 there.

 

[johncrossley]

Using National Express or Megabus is a cheap way of using the M6 Toll. National Express tend to stop at the services. Because that means a lot of extra potential revenue from coach passengers spending money in the services, I believe coach drivers that stop at the services get a voucher for free passage.

Megabus on the other hand seemed to be happy to pay the toll without stopping at the services. I haven't used them on this route for some years though, so not sure if this is still the case.

 

[route101]

Using National Express or Megabus is a cheap way of using the M6 Toll. National Express tend to stop at the services. Because that means a lot of extra potential revenue from coach passengers spending money in the services, I believe coach drivers that stop at the services get a voucher for free passage.

Megabus on the other hand seemed to be happy to pay the toll without stopping at the services. I haven't used them on this route for some years though, so not sure if this is still the case.

Yes stopped at Norton Cane Services on an overnight National Express service to Scotland. I believe the Manchester to London 540 service does too .

I've seen Megabus M1X service stop at Norton Cane.

 

[BobSmith01]

Hello all and M6toll users

What do you think of the changes M6Toll is implementing?

I am not impressed with one of their statements

Personalised discounts​

Our ANPR system will let us know – for the first time – where you join and where you leave M6toll. This information will help us develop a range of products and discounts suited to the journeys people are actually making – and help us encourage more people to use us for local as well as long distance trips. Keep an eye out for big changes in the spring!


Why do they need a record of where we join and were we leave. It is not like in France where there is a booth at the entrance and one at the exist.
To reward regular users they need to know the frequencies of passages and taking the ANPR at the booth is enough.

I fear some hidden agenda.
Where joined, where leave = distance
Any automated system has a embedded timestamp

I let you figure out what can be done with such information.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you are concerned about that you should give up travelling by car, and only travel by foot, bicycle and public transport, paying by cash.

There's already a well established ANPR network tracking every car all over the country.

 

[jp4712]

Bring it on, I say. I live half way along the toll road, so I get on/off halfway along: but going from home north or south, I get hit at the main toll gates as if I’d done the whole journey. It’s only going home that I get a discount by being charged at the Lichfield exits. So if ANPR gives me a discount by knowing I haven’t travelled the full length, good!

 

[Bald Rick]

Why do they need a record of where we join and were we leave. It is not like in France where there is a booth at the entrance and one at the exist.

It’s exactly like in France, where they record where you join and leave. Or most car parks. Or almost the entire strategic road network.

I really dont understand this concern with ANPR. Its there to make things easier (and in this case, probably cheaper) for you.

 

[D365]

I really dont understand this concern with ANPR. Its there to make things easier (and in this case, probably cheaper) for you.

Similar, erm, concerns are being raised with "smart speed cameras"... but in terms of tolling, I'm not sure where the concern lies.

 

[nlogax]

I use it when the satnav tells me it'll save a a big chunk of time but that's about it. On a 400 mile drive I like having stuff to look at along the way, of which there is plenty on the free M6. Purely from a scenic perspective the M6 Toll is an immensely boring road.

 

[Dave W]

Similar, erm, concerns are being raised with "smart speed cameras"... but in terms of tolling, I'm not sure where the concern lies.

The post Bald Rick replied to seems to have distinct undertones that there's a conspiracy, possibly about wider road pricing?

 

[D1537]

The post Bald Rick replied to seems to have distinct undertones that there's a conspiracy, possibly about wider road pricing?

I have seen posts about this on social media which seem to be part of the "15-minute cities" conspiracy nonsense about restricting people's movement, so ...