Motorway Charges (Hansard, 4 March 1994)

§ 20. Mr. David Atkinson
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the first toll-paying motorway to be opened.

§ Mr. Key
The introduction of tolling on existing motorways will depend on the development of suitable electronic technology and on Parliament's approval of the necessary legislation. It is not possible to give a target date, although we expect tolling to be technically feasible within about five years.
The privately financed Birmingham northern relief road, a new road which is being promoted under existing legislation, could be open at about the turn of the century, subject to satisfactory completion of the necessary statutory procedures.

§ 25. Mr. Gale
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he can give comparative figures for the level of motorway charges in other European countries compared with the levels mentioned in his Green Paper, "Paying for Better Motorways".

§ Mr. Key
As I said in my answer of 24 January,Official Report, column 79, average tolls for cars on motorways in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal are between about 5p and 10p per mile. In Greece, they are up to 4p per mile. The levels of electronic tolls for cars discussed in the Green Paper were between 0.5p and 1.5p per mile.