Sadiq Khan is under fire as drivers are set to have to pay ￡100million a year to use the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels in London. The Mayor's opponents have claimed that the tolls will hurt families, commuters and businesses who depend on the routes.
The Silvertown Tunnel is set to open next year. Transport for London (TfL) officials have approved the policy which will charge car and van drivers ￡4 at peak times and ￡1.50 during off-peak periods for each journey under the River Thames.
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The Standard has reported that TfL is due to make only around ￡3million a year in “profit” from the tunnel tolls. This is because of the ￡2billion cost of the Silvertown scheme.
Mr Khan has said that discounts will be avilable for drivers on certain benefits living in Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Bromley, City of London, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Lewisham, Newham, Redbridge, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. But the deputy leader of Reform UK, has called the move "just another burden on hard-working Londoners".
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The Blackwall Tunnel will be tolled following the opening of the Silvertown Tunnel (Image: Getty)
Reform UK presented today what the party called the largest ever petition given to the London Assembly. It features more than 37,000 Londoners calling on Mr Khan to reconsider his toll charges on the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels.
Blackheath resident and petition founder Liam Davis said: “The 37,000 signatures show that ordinary Londoners are fed up to the back teeth with being penalised for merely going about their daily lives. The proposed toll charges will hurt families, commuters and businesses who depend on these routes.
“The fact we have garnered so much support – the largest ever petition presented to the Assembly – shows people have simply had enough!”
Reform UK London Assembly Member Alex Wilson added: “This is yet another example of Sadiq Khan waging war on London’s drivers. Londoners are fed up of the political class wasting our money on left-wing gimmicks like the nonsensical rebranding of the Overground lines only to then see a new tax imposed on a tunnel that has been free to use since 1897.
“Only Reform UK would put hard-working Londoners first by scrapping all of ULEZ and cancelling the Mayor’s plans to charge drivers using these tunnels.”
Reform UK's Deputy Leader, Richard Tice MP, said: “This is just another burden on hard-working Londoners." He called the expansion of the ULEZ a cash grab, adding that the toll charge is just yet another gimmick. "Sadiq Khan should instead focus on the issues which are crippling London: knife crime, violence, burglaries and London’s housing crisis," Mr Tice said.
Richard Tice has lashed out at the tolls (Image: Getty)
A spokesperson for the Mayor said: “The new Silvertown tunnel, proposed by the previous Mayor in 2012, will help reduce congestion and deliver faster, more reliable journeys in east London, including new public transport and cycle connections.
“When the tunnel opens in 2025, user charges will need to be introduced at both Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels, to help manage traffic and pay back the construction costs and ongoing maintenance and operational costs, and this has been a key part of the proposals since the plans for the tunnel were first developed in 2012. Without these charges, traffic would increase in both tunnels, drivers would continue to experience major delays and air pollution would increase.”
Christina Calderato, director of Strategy at TfL, said: “As we prepare for the opening of Silvertown Tunnel in the Spring and following public consultation, which saw more than 5,000 responses, the TfL Board has now agreed the initial charges, discounts and exemptions for the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels.
"These measures will manage traffic demand as well as the environmental impacts, and ensure the new tunnel delivers on its objectives of reducing congestion and providing resilience at the Blackwall Tunnel, while ensuring we support local residents on low income, small businesses, sole traders and local charities.
“If we did not introduce these, there would likely be high levels of traffic and congestion, which would lead to detrimental air quality impacts, as well as longer journey times. In the New Year, we will carry out a major marketing campaign to encourage drivers to sign up to TfL Auto Pay, ensuring Londoners can benefit from the off-peak discounts from launch.”
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The Mayor's office has emphasised that TfL data has shown that in the expanded outer London area, ULEZ vehicle compliance is now 96.4 per cent, up from 90.9 per cent in June 2023.
This is nearly the same level of compliance as seen in inner and central London, with 96.5 per cent and 96.4 per cent, respectively, officials say.
A report released in the summer found that, within the outer London ULEZ area, NOX emissions from cars and vans are estimated to be 13 per cent and 7 per cent lower than would have been expected without the expansion.
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This equates to a total reduction of 424 tonnes of NOx emissions from cars and vans, equivalent to removing 200,000 cars from the road for a year.
In addition, PM2.5 exhaust emissions from cars in outer London are estimated to be 22 per cent lower than would have been expected without the expansion.
Further, Mr Khan's team has highlighted that the research showed that, compared a scenario without the ULEZ and its expansions, roadside NO2 levels are 53 per cent lower in central London, 24 per cent lower in inner London and 21 per cent lower in outer London.