NRA defends disparity in toll charges

THE NATIONAL Roads Authority (NRA) has moved to defend the disparity in the Republic’s toll prices, which vary widely across the State.

In Co Westmeath a fee of €2.90 applies for passenger cars on the 39km Kilcock to Kinnegad section of the M4 but, further west on the much-less trafficked Ballinasloe to Galway M6, a smaller toll of just €1.90 applies for a 56km stretch.

Similarly, on a 61km stretch on the M3 in Co Meath, two tolls are payable, each costing €1.30. This works out at a cost of 4.26 cent per kilometre on the M3, compared to a cost of 7.43 cent on the M4.

The new M7/M8 toll in Co Laois offers 30 kilometres of the M8 for €1.80, working out at six cent per kilometre. Further south, the 17.5km Fermoy bypass has a toll of €1.90 working out at almost 11 cent per kilometre.

Explaining the disparity in pricing, Hugh Creegan of the National Roads Authority said the tolling arrangements were made up of a number of variable elements and were essentially not comparable to each other.

Factors included how much the private partner had put up towards the scheme, which in turn was dependent on the ground conditions, terrain and the need for bridges and interchanges. Mr Creegan also said toll prices were set at a “balanced” level, a calculation based on the amount a driver would pay before opting to leave the motorway to avoid the toll.

He said the motorways provided good value when compared to continental tolls. He also said that as a complete motorway the M4/M6 Dublin to Galway route featured two tolls of €2.90 and €1.90, which gave access to 194 kilometres working out at at a rate of about 2.5 cent per kilometre.

Calculating the tolls based on the full distance between cities, which included “free” stretches of road, Mr Creegan said the cost per kilometre on the Dublin to Cork road was just 1.6 cent; the Dublin to Limerick road was 0.9 cent per kilometre and the Dublin to the Border motorway was just 2.1 cent per kilometre.

However, Irish Road Haulage president Vincent Caulfield called the tolls “double taxation”.

He said motorists and hauliers were faced with road tax, fuel duty, a carbon levy and business taxes. Tolls were he said “tax on the double”.