M6 Toll Road being sold

[zipdip]

Well the loss making M6 toll Road is up for sale,the original owners packed in years ago,unable to show a profit,so it is the consortium of banks who took it over that are trying to sell it now,they seem to think now is the right time to sell,they want somewhere around £2 billion for it,of course it has lost money ever since it was built,losses are around £25 million a year,I wonder who will be mug enough to buy it,I would hope the government would offer £1 billion and take the tolls off,then I would use it

 

[automaniaman]

I wonder who will be mug enough to buy it,I would hope the government would offer £1 billion and take the tolls off,then I would use it

Don't you mean the tax payer..

 

[zipdip]

Well it is 27 miles of completed motorway,just how much do you think that road would cost today to build from scratch,all new roads are payed for by the tax payer,and of course today new roads are frowned upon,as I write we have the slowest traffic there has ever been,so a ready made road would be very welcome.

 

[st13phil]

Well it is 27 miles of completed motorway,just how much do you think that road would cost today to build from scratch

Typical average costs are apparently £30m - £40m per mile to build a new motorway in the UK. The £2bn price tag puts this one at around £74m per mile which looks somewhat expensive.

 

[Red C220]

Clearly this is just a marketing issue, the original owners should have "branded" the original road rather than simply name it the "M6 toll road".

Something along the lines of Premium Economy Expressway for middle or upper class drivers of German executive cars or equivalent only.

Then coloured the tarmac in a Louis Vuitton design.

There would have been queues at the toll booths.

 

[Meldrew2]

I've offered £19,000 for one of the tollbooths… should get my money back fairly quickly...

 

[st13phil]

Clearly this is just a marketing issue, the original owners should have "branded" the original road rather than simply name it the "M6 toll road".

I have a guaranteed way to increase usage and bring in a bit more revenue: offer the option of a "premium" ticket, at perhaps double the normal price, that raises the speed limit for that journey to (say) 120mph.

And I'm not being entirely tongue-in-cheek with that suggestion, either.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

I have a guaranteed way to increase usage and bring in a bit more revenue: offer the option of a "premium" ticket, at perhaps double the normal price, that raises the speed limit for that journey to (say) 120mph.

And I'm not being entirely tongue-in-cheek with that suggestion, either.

But only allow drivers to use it that have passed advanced driving test

 

[st13phil]

^ No problem with that as its another reason for drivers to undertake further training.

 

[Red C220]

You could rename it the M6Ring and offer those little bootlid stickers for those that have been on it.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Or 'Smart Motorways for Smart Drivers' ...hooking into the Smart meme, and rewarding skilful drivers with quicker journey times and clearer roads, and incentivising higher standards of driving.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

There would have been queues at the toll booths.

There already is at rush hour. More than 150 cars at the plaza is not unusual in the morning rush hour.

It's time will come. It's definitely getting busier.

I would prefer not to pay a toll, but I do, at least 8 times a week, and often more. If you're travelling during anything other than quiet times, and your time is precious then it's worth it. In fact I even use it in the middle of the night, as for me the time saving is still worth it.

 

[Rory]

It's time will come. It's definitely getting busier.

The BBC article about its sales says an average of 52,735 vehicles used the road per week day between October and December last year, compared with 45,890 in 2014.

IIRC correctly it was stuck in the 30,000's for for some time, and it needed 75,000 to break even.


I use it if I have to, mainly heading South in the mornings, but avoid it outside peak times.

 

[NDFR]

Clearly this is just a marketing issue, the original owners should have "branded" the original road rather than simply name it the "M6 toll road".

Something along the lines of Premium Economy Expressway for middle or upper class drivers of German executive cars or equivalent only.

Then coloured the tarmac in a Louis Vuitton design.

There would have been queues at the toll booths.

Or rename it 'rag the ******** of your car for £8.90'.

 

[zipdip]

Well I think the banks will be hard pressed to sell it for 2 billion,the figure of 1 billion is nearer the mark,not sure who would buy it as it is losing £25 million a year and that is with low interest rates,I hope the road is made free,as it should be,and a thank you to all those motorists who have given this road a miss.

 

[MSG2004]

The M6 toll road makes money on days when laods of traffic jams, accidents but other days hardly a car on it.
I've never used it but my brother-in-law used to as years ago you did not really got bothered unless more than 100mph in good weather - but now there is police there and not sure but think there may be speed cams as well.

I can see it making at profit unless sold for a fraction of the advertised costs.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Was any taxpayer money used to pay for its construction or was it totally privately paid for?

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

I have never paid to go on it out of principle, as we already pay road taxes/vehicle excise duty/whatever, and if we all started paying tolls for road usage they would probably roll that model out everywhere, like much of French motorways.

 

[tuonopepper]

Use it whenever going North to south or vice versa with work however I expense the ticket so not sure it counts. If they lifted the limit it would get more customers but it would likely end up with a lot of crashes.

 

[bolide]

The M6 Toll Road is the perfect metaphor for UK road building: 25 years in planning, 2 years in construction, makes a loss every year

Nick Froome