Ridley tolls idea astounds industry
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TRANSPORT SECRETARY Nicholas Ridley has raised the possibility of privatising estuarine bridges and tunnels, with the third Dartford Tunnel and a second Severn crossing at the top of the list.
He told the Commons backbench transport committee last week that he was privatising the crossings as a way of releasing more money for road construction.
But he is not going to win any transport industry friends if he goes ahead with the plan.
Both the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association want tolls on the crossings to be scrapped, and spokesmen for both organisations this week failed to see any logic or possible benefit in Mr Ridley's suggestion.
An FTA spokesman said a private operator would need to make a profit front tolls collection and could conceivably save money by employing fewer toll collection staff at busy times.
He described Mr Ridley's proposal as a "complete red herring" and a "non idea" which could only be justified on the grounds that it reduced local authority manning levels.
The RHA said the Government already had sufficient surplus taxation collected from road users if it is seriously interested in providing more estuarine crossings.