Dartford Crossing

[Rob Bell]

Has anyone else attempted to pre-pay for the Dartford crossing yet?
but
They're just changing over the payment system (they couldn't resist the temptation to increase the charge could they??) - so instead of a toll payable at a booth, you now pay on-line or by phone (like the London Congestion charge zone)

Which is fine (bar the 25% price hike), but the on-line booking system isn't working for me (I have a track day at Brands Hatch tomorrow!)

Just blooming typical

[David Dixon]

More money grabbing tricks... facebook friends with the DVLA! Presume this will impact the 'Friends around London' gig in February.

[talkingcars]

As we quite often use the crossing I set up an account that covers our three running cars.

The minimum you can hold in the account is £10 and the minimum top up is £10 so they can be holding upto £20
BUT
it reduces the cost per crossing to £1.67.

The crossing remains free between 10pm and 6am so the only FRL runners effected at all will be those travelling east around the M25 to get to the start or stragglers on the way home afterwards.

[Plezier]

jeez last time I used it it was still £1 for a car ......................................... that was several years back now of course. Last year I went clockwise from the A3 round up past the M40 to get tot eh A1m and M11 junctions as I came in from Hampshire so did nto get as far round as Dartford. Thanks for the heads up as may be headign down that way before too long and will have to use it ............................... sadly.

So what happens when one does not know about this and arrives at the crossing with ony some change????

[stuart]

I thought it was only going to be a toll road until such time as the construction costs were paid off???

[fatbaldingoldgit]

I thought it was only going to be a toll road until such time as the construction costs were paid off???

Ha ha ha...you and everyone else!!

[Plezier]

I thought it was only going to be a toll road until such time as the construction costs were paid off???

Who is a silly billy then??????

What and let all that filthy lucre get away??????????? not on your nelly

[adrianclifford]

On the radio today, "massive queues at the Dartford Crossing" so no change there then.

We have six cars at home, you can only have five on any one account, typical !

Try getting thirty or so foreign cars across, they all have to phone and pay or pay on-line, not good for our MGFIM guests.

I see no real change in speeding up the crossing and reducing the queues as you still have to stop and wait for the barriers to raise, I appreciate the need to slow cars down before entering the tunnel but there are average speed cameras in there and it's not really necessary on the bridge as there's camera's there too all set to 50 .

[talkingcars]

My understading is that the developer could charge for X number of years.

You don't have to pre pay, you post pay up to midnight on the day of crossing.

I beleive the barriers will be going.

[Plezier]

You don't have to pre pay, you post pay up to midnight on the day of crossing.

More simplistic stupidity from the morons running the show.

It may come as a surprise to these afore mention morons but not everyone has mobile interweb access.

So I am going south for this gathering and as we are in the East that means using the dartford crossing. However my desk top will not fit in the car and the extension lead is not THAT long. My mobile phone is just that a PHONE. No camera of other gimmicks. We do not have tablets unless it's those from the doctors! Palm things are trees to us and no laptops ....................... ahhhh so what to do ???? ...................................... stay and home I suppose according the morons!

Or another your heading to Cormwall or the Channel ports or Tunnel and go across the crossing at 23:59 ...................................... so you cannot pay by midnight! Nope the morons just have not thought thsi through at all. Typical really. What they can see is the milions they will have of others monies held in their accounts to earn interest off. I'll bet they even have projections of the earnings from this .

You also think that the foreigners will bother with this paying malarky on the whole ????? Somwhow I cannot see the trucks bothering they will just save the dosh and keep on trucking.

[stuart]

Well it's a shame there isn't a mod for a hinged windscreen then...we could all limbo through for nothing

[fatbaldingoldgit]

"Motorists will need to pay for each crossing in advance, or by midnight the following day."

[talkingcars]

My mobile phone is just that a PHONE.

So ring them and pay by phone, I assume you have a payment card of some sort.

[Plezier]

My mobile phone is just that a PHONE.

So ring them and pay by phone, I assume you have a payment card of some sort.

OK great so now we not only get ripped off on the price hike then we have to pay to phone them Meanwhile the lay off the staff and make more unemployed in the name of greed. Perhaps instead we should all stop remove the number plates drive through the stop and re-fit said plates No doubt they will have loads of bored plods waiting JIC some should do such a thing. And the foreign trucks will still not be paying1

[purplebargeken]

Poop! Nearly forgot about this. All paid.

How long did it take you to get home Rob

[ashleyfrazer]

Is the crossing still free certain times of day 10PM until 6AM? Ash

[adrianclifford]

Yes Ash, no change there 22-00 to 06.00 it's free.

I'm not sure if non UK mobiles will be able to ring an 0300 number but Dart-charge (formerly Dart-Tag) are insistent they can track down and charge foreign vehicles. I think they assume this or that everybody crossing has mobile internet or have registered an account. Looking at the amount of foreign lorry drivers that have to dismount, walk round the other side to pay I really can't see any improvement as they obviously don't have an account, I guess the majority do if they're regular drivers though. When I asked about foreign cars I was told that's it, these are the only three ways of paying and court proceedings will follow if they don't pay. How can you track a non UK car if it doesn't have country identification asks I, don't worry we can was the reply.

Holland and Luxembourg have yellow front plates, Belgium red letters on white, Germany and Spain have a unique style. Look at Portugal, Hungary, Sweden and Lithuania they are identical if you remove the identifying letter from the mix. Russia uses a Cyrillic combination, to me it's a bit of a mess but they'll still make loads of money and the traffic won't get any better until they remove the barriers and let the traffic flow.

[ashleyfrazer]

Hi. I went to Norway last year. I set up the account from mobile and drove through the camera tolls. My number was recognised no issue. I dont have the euro GB on the number plate. Once I returned to the UK and after a period of time unused credit was returned to my account. So it can be done. I understand that if you dont register they come asking for the money by selling the debt to a uk based collection agency. They then add a fee. Ash

[Rob Bell]

Eventually managed to pay on line yesterday evening - the mobile didn't work (it continually stalled on the payment), but the home PC got it though in the end. What a battle to pay for something that previously was a simple case of chucking some money at the collection point at the barrier.

Unfortunately I had to pay £6 to get the car back, as I had to pay the low-loader to cross ( Bah!)

Ken, I got back in reasonable time - just in time for the school run! I got the guy to drop me off at the main road, and I drove it into my road (we live opposite the school) - there was no way he'd be able to off load the car there!!!

[Green Squirrel]

Bad luck Rob BUT we can have a consoling drink on Friday