show of hands, who knew this was a thing?  I'll be honest I only found out about them yesterday although apparently they were introduced stating back in 93.

 

A shadow toll is a contractual payment made by a government per driver using a road to a private company that operates a road built or maintained using private finance initiative funding. Payments are based, at least in part, on the number of vehicles using a section of road, often over a 20- to 30-year period. The shadow tolls or per vehicle fees are paid directly to the company without intervention or direct payment from the users.

On more recent shadow toll schemes in the United Kingdom, payments reduce as the number of vehicles increase, to encourage availability of the road rather than the number of vehicles carried.

M1 Lofthouse to Bramham link road
M40 Denham to Warwick
M80 Stepps to Haggs
A1 Darrington to Dishforth
A1(M) Alconbury to Peterborough
A13 Limehouse to Wennington (Greater London)
A19 Dishforth to Tyne Tunnel
A249 Stockbury (M2) to Sheerness
A30 Exeter to Bere Regis
A417 Gloucester to Cirencester
A419 Swindon to Cirencester
A50 Stoke to Derby link
A55 Llanfairpwll to Holyhead
A69 Carlisle to Newcastle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_toll

Never knew that Show Toll Roads existed 🤯

 

I often use that stretch of the a419...

@Winston_Woof thanks for posting, I had missed your post, but at least it's better to have it twice than not at all. I hate to think how many billions of public has been wasted paying out to these companies for all these years. The same goes for the all PFI hospitals and schools that have built over the years, it would have been far cheaper to have burrowed the extra money to build them rather then this continual bleeding of money from the public sector to the private sector. 

 

Interestingly it of course in 1993 when this whole process started, it was a conservative government and they have continued this diverting public money into the private sector ever since, no wonder public services are decimated and the current party having to reverse their manifesto pledges, shocking state of affairs.

 

There are even more roads that could added to that list now, there is a section of the A130 from Chelmsford to Wickford that has had an extra lane added in a similar scheme, so its a safe bet that there will be others, which be come to be known in the fullness of time.

Edited 2 September, 20241 yr by Graham Butcher

Jon got his idea for the video from a Post I made in his FB group the same day

13 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

its a safe bet that there will be others, which be come to be known in the fullness of time.

I wonder if a Freedom Of Information request to the DfT (or whatever it's called now) would elicit a complete list?

 

Maybe a newspaper like the Guardian could be persuaded to be "interested"?

1 hour ago, PetrolDave said:

I wonder if a Freedom Of Information request to the DfT (or whatever it's called now) would elicit a complete list?

 

Maybe a newspaper like the Guardian could be persuaded to be "interested"?

When think how much money has been wasted putting profits into the profit sector, and yet they also squeeze their staff on pay awards, so very little of that money goes back into circulation. And many of the services that have been cut and potholes that could all be a thing of the past if only they had borrowed the money. 

Edited 3 September, 20241 yr by Graham Butcher

18 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

When think how much money has been wasted putting profits into the profit sector, and yet they also squeeze their staff on pay awards, so very little of that money goes back into circulation. And many of the services that have been cut and potholes that could all be a thing of the past if only they had burrowed the money. 

wouldn't increased burrowing have increased the chances of sinkholes???


 

Edited 3 September, 20241 yr by Winston_Woof

9 minutes ago, Winston_Woof said:

wouldn't increased burrowing have increased the chances of sinkholes???


 

Very true 😆😆 Edited the original post now, thanks. 

Edited 3 September, 20241 yr by Graham Butcher