Tyne Tunnel fares set to increase next year

Electricity bills for the crossing are expected to rise by £1m because of the energy crisis. Credit: ITV News Tyne Tees

The cost of driving through the Tyne Tunnel will increase by up to 50p in 2023.

Councillors voted to increase the price of the toll but deferred the hike from February until May 2023 because of major financial pressures set to hit households this winter.

It means that the class two vehicle toll for car drivers will rise from £1.90 to £2.20 and the class three HGV toll will go from £3.90 to £4.40.

Members of the North East Joint Transport Committee's Tyne and Wear sub-committee were told that the toll needed to increase at a higher rate than usual because of escalating levels of inflation and to pay back debts incurred in building the second tunnel.

Philip Smith, chief executive of Tyne Tunnel operator TT2, said that the electricity bills for the crossing are expected to rise by £1m because of the energy crisis.

Committee chair Carl Johnson, the deputy mayor of North Tyneside, said: "We fully understand that everyone and every organisation is going through massive cost increases at the moment. The deferment [to May] is the best we can do as a committee to at least try and alleviate the pressure."

Motorists who pay their Tyne Tunnel toll using a pre-paid account will still get a 10% discount under the new toll levels, making the cost £1.98 for cars and £3.96 for HGVs.

Keeping the toll at lower level until May will require £1.5m to be spent from councils' cash reserves, but bosses say that freezing the toll beyond that would mean that reserves would "be reduced to an unacceptable level".

Gateshead councillor John McElroy said: "None of us like having any sort of price increase, particularly to public services. But, in view of the fact that costs are going up, we have to fulfil our obligations and see this increase go through.

"Nevertheless, I agree with the deferment. That seems like a sensible compromise, that way we at least alleviate some of the pressures of the cost of living crisis."

It has now been 12 months since the removal of the crossing's old toll booths and the start of a new, cashless payment system that requires motorists to pay either online, with a pre-paid account, over the phone, or in shops with PayPoint counters.

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