Lorries will be forced to pay a “significant” increase in the Dartford Crossing charges after the government slapped an extra £2.40 on each trip.
HGVs will need to cough up £8.40 for the road crossing of the River Thames from September.
Even pre-pay account holders will see the tariff soar by 39% to £7.20 for vehicles with more than two axles.
Goods vehicles with two axles must pay the new charge of £4.20 for a one-off payment and £3.60 for pre-pay accounts.
Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said she was aware that the changes would be unwelcome news for users, but that demand at the bridge had grown by 7.5% since the last time charges were increased in 2014.
She said that with an average of 150,000 vehicles using the crossing every day – 180,000 on the busiest days – traffic levels were in excess of the bridge’s design capacity.
“Current charging levels are no longer sufficient to achieve their stated aim of managing demand so that the crossing works well for users and local people,” she said.
“The need to increase the charges to manage traffic highlights the need for the additional capacity that [the Lower Thames Crossing], for which the government confirmed new funding yesterday, will provide.”
James Barwise, RHA policy lead, said the increase would add to running costs at a time that businesses in the sector were already finding financially challenging and would ultimately push up prices for consumers.
“We recently welcomed the Lower Thames Crossing decision as it’s an essential infrastructure project that we want delivered as soon as possible,” he said.
“However, given project delays to date, Dartford remains the only practical Thames crossing for HGVs and coaches in the South-East.
“It’s therefore regrettable that the charge increase has been so significant.”
