Dartford Crossing (1 Viewer)

Sep 10, 2013
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For those of us lucky enough to use the Bl**dy crossing on a regular basis we are aware of the planned changes to speed up the removal of money from the passing motorist.
I was just up dating my Tag account and was directed to an update and explanation of how it will work.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dart-charge-dartford-crossing-remote-payment

It seems to be the same as the London congestion charge, which I grudgingly agree works quite well.(that is it takes you money with quiet efficiency)

I was pleased to note that the cameras will track non UK vehicles and they will chase up any unpaid crossings, good news if its true, although chasing some Polish Plumber for £2.00 does seem to be a bit uneconomic.

Seems for those of us with Tags the prepayment arrangements will continue.

I went through a couple of times yesterday and the preparatory roadworks don't seem to be moving at pace and a November start date may be a bit optimistic.

Lets hope it reduces the congestion and remember the approaches on both sidesand bridge are covered by average speed cameras, if the congestion goes then the temptation to speed will increase.
 

wingman

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As a reasonably regular user (went through last Sunday) I'm looking forward to having no booths and not being stuck behind bozos who hold out a £20 note, foreigners struggling to reach across from the left seat (I guess the French feel the same about me at the Peage !) OR, those that drop their money, ferret around in their car and find they can't open the driver's door to look for it as they're parked too close to the booth!

On reading the blurb, I'm annoyed to find that not only are they raising the charge to from £2 to £2.50 each way (£1.67 for me as I have a tag) BUT ALSO, the tag will only be single vehicle use :mad: At the moment, as a non-local resident, I can swap it between my car and MoHo. Guess there's no prospect of swapping if they're using ANPR?

Don't forget that if you fancy travelling at silly o'clock, it's FREE between 22.00 and 06.00
 

Shovelheadrob

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If you need/want a second Dart tag they issue them for free, I have 2 on the same account.

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Clive

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sad but I'd happily pay the extra 50p to not sit there for hours at a time. Must be old age, all my time is now precious :LOL:
 

wingman

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Oh! Thanks for that Shovel'. I'll apply for another. Cheers.

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Aug 18, 2014
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" Toll charges were collected at the crossing until 2003 when the cost for constructing the QEII Bridge and the tunnels had been fully re-paid. A road user charge was introduced in 2003 to manage the high demand for use of the Crossing. Parliament agreed the powers for the charging regime in the Transport Act 2000." just a load of thieving scum.

Why introduce charges to something that has " high demand" All you do is make 4 lanes of traffic queue over the bridge 16 hours a day. The bridge wasn't designed to have vehicles parked on it 16 hours a day. If you cannot keep queues down to an absolute minimum then you need to up the capacity .
I , unfortunately ,had to use it 4 times in each direction when I was over in the summer. Shortest delay was 1.5 hours.

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OP
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Zains Pops
Sep 10, 2013
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As a reasonably regular user (went through last Sunday) I'm looking forward to having no booths and not being stuck behind bozos who hold out a £20 note, foreigners struggling to reach across from the left seat (I guess the French feel the same about me at the Peage !) OR, those that drop their money, ferret around in their car and find they can't open the driver's door to look for it as they're parked too close to the booth!

On reading the blurb, I'm annoyed to find that not only are they raising the charge to from £2 to £2.50 each way (£1.67 for me as I have a tag) BUT ALSO, the tag will only be single vehicle use :mad: At the moment, as a non-local resident, I can swap it between my car and MoHo. Guess there's no prospect of swapping if they're using ANPR?

Don't forget that if you fancy travelling at silly o'clock, it's FREE between 22.00 and 06.00
Ready the blurb,it seems that if you have a tag account all you have to do is list all your vehicle registration numbers on the account and the computers will do the rest. Just like the congestion scam sorry scheme.
 

GWAYGWAY

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Sep 6, 2014
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If it is closed for any reason then how does the LEZ non compliant diversion. meaning that you must go 121 miles to get to the A2 by going all the way around the wrong way of the M25 SAVE POLLUTION.
Several thousand lorries driving for two and a half hours and burning god knows how much fuel each. That is peculiar thinking when the Blackwall tunnel is available but banned.
 

sedge

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When we came back from France on 21st Oct we were dead worried in case they'd already introduced it cos we hadn't a clue how to pay. Foreign holidaymakers won't have a clue until they get chased up ages after, will they? When presumably it will cost them more than £2.50.

But there again if bank cards work the same in France as England - it will always cost more - pay on-line or by phone and their bank register it as a foreign transaction and whack on a charge - we hate paying tolls or for Aires by CC but often you don't get the choice.

And if we came up from Dover, went through and then called somewhere else for a few days before actually coming home, it's most unlikely we'd have internet access and wouldn't have a clue of the number to ring, even if we remembered we needed to.

Can you register already (while I think about it!) and if you only use it - say - once every few years will you actually remember to tell them if you change your Bank Account? Or your vehicle?
 

icantremember

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Can you register already (while I think about it!) and if you only use it - say - once every few years will you actually remember to tell them if you change your Bank Account? Or your vehicle?
Hi, yes you can certainly register for a Tag account now and top it up with a minimum of £10 which does not expire and you get a discounted crossing rate.(y)

I don't use ours very often and have found no problems .... currently you can transfer your Tag between vehicles although this is due to change in the next few weeks and you will have to register each vehicle reg number on your account but then you can have a Tag for each one, I am just waiting delivery of an extra Tag for my car.

The main benefits as of now are firstly the discount and then the ease of getting through the barriers (once you get past the traffic backlog :swear2:)as you can you can use the Tag only lanes which have less queues and move faster.

When the new number plate recognition system comes into operation the Tag should work just the same but with out it you will be able to pay in advance or by the end of the following day but there will be no way of paying at the crossing.

I think I have this all right and hope it helps .... meanwhile here is the web site for you >Dart-Tag<

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Aug 18, 2014
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The next time I am in the UK I will let you all know if they chase the payment on non UK registerd vehicles:):reel:

Mel

If it is closed for any reason then how does the LEZ non compliant diversion. meaning that you must go 121 miles to get to the A2 by going all the way around the wrong way of the M25 SAVE POLLUTION.
Several thousand lorries driving for two and a half hours and burning god knows how much fuel each. That is peculiar thinking when the Blackwall tunnel is available but banned.

I would have used the Woolwich ferry but cannot because it is inside the London Emission Zone (LEZ). Therefore if there is a problem theorettically I'd have to do that also.
My vehicle is too old to comply with the LEZ.
Do they chase up foreign drivers ? Well the Spanish ones definitely under the LEZ. The first time you get a warning letter stating what you did, where, when,date,time & explaing how it works. & informing you that next time it is £1500 fine +100 or 200 per day. Not a lot of help if A) you don't know about it & B) you are in & out a few times before you return home !!
I only found out by accident a couple of years back as a chap here got the letter. When I went on to register my Spanish car, you have to provide copies of log book etc; the site is barely intelligible for someone whose first language is English !
A foreigner wouldn't understand that it is a legal requirement !

The one thing Boris hasn't realised is that here in Spain any debts incurred , fines etc , are attached to the vehicle so if I sell it on before they get registered then the next person is saddled with it .lol :LOL:(y)
 

Scotties

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Stupid question maybe, but are motorhomes a 'camping car' or '2 axle goods' vehicle, been charged either in the past:whistle:

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GWAYGWAY

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Sep 6, 2014
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If you refer to the tolls it is counted as a car.
If you mean the LEZ it is most definitely a goods vehicle if it is over 3500kg. My Transit is 3860kg and it becomes light truck for the LEZ. It is a Euro 3 as a transit but needs to be Euro IV as a truck which involves a lot tighter specification with special £3000 filters. I did not know anything about the LEZ when I went down the A13 to Blackwall when the Dartford Bridge was blocked for repairs and the the queue went back to theM11. Two weeks later I got a letter form LEZ pointing out that I needed to pay £200 in advance or pay the penalty of £1000 after the fact. I was sick with worry about that ie 2 months pension to pay for that little diversion that was beyond my control. HOWEVER at the end of the letter it stated that as I had not been informed of the classification I was nor required to pay it that time as was given 28 to get the vehicle to comply or never go in again. Most times now I go around the South of the M25 if it is possible to get where I am going without too much extra mileage. I do not know how they expect a foreign driver to know about their stupid money grabbing exercise For I didn't and I expect most people do not either until they get caught out
 

icantremember

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Stupid question maybe, but are motorhomes a 'camping car' or '2 axle goods' vehicle, been charged either in the past:whistle:
Certainly any tolls we have passed through in the UK, including the Dartford Crossing, our motorhome (4250Kg) has always been treated as a car but it is a different matter over the channel.
 

wingman

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Although I'm a user of the crossing, if I were not a 'regular', I'd still get a Dart-Tag.

As has been said; getting a tag is 'FREE' - albeit that you have to put a tenner credit on the tag when you open the account. However, thereafter, there is no recurring charge for the tag itself. On the new tariff, you save 83p for each transit (£1.66 for a return journey).

When the new scheme starts (late November 2014 - unquote) For anyone just using the crossing on hi-days and holidays, I would suffer the tenner and bung a tag in the 'van. Apart from a discount, it saves all that messing about with advance booking, surfing the net or hanging on the phone to pay (assuming you remember, or you're not abroad somewhere and forget!)

Don't also forget that you MUST use the tag at least once within a 12 month period!

PS. For those thinking of the Woolwich Ferry, apart from the LEZ issue, the winter service can be very unreliable. They suspend the ferry when it's misty or foggy
 

sedge

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Well we might use it 4 times a year ie there and back twice. Then not use it again till next year. I shall have to read the T&C next time we know we're going through it, in enough time to get the tag before we go, to decide what's best.
 
Jul 4, 2010
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We have 2 UK registered vehicles (works van and camper) and 1 French registered vehicle (car). We use each of them at least once each year on a return crossing. Can we register a French vehicle alongside a UK registered vehicle for a TAG and can we mix and match different classes of vehicle on the same TAG?
As we are from SE Essex we only use the Dartford Crossing to go south.

Thanks

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Jan 28, 2008
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will you still need to have a tag in the vehicle after the booths are removed or will it be done on number plate recognition if we had tags we would save sme cash as we are fairly regular crossers in car and vans
 
Nov 2, 2014
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Just setup a account for the new dartford toll it put my Hiace van in class c, the car in class b, Ranger double cab in class c should be in class b as it has 5 seats and our motorhome in class D !! Which is the same group as a 44 ton goods vehicle.
Spent 1/2 hour on the phone trying to get it change.



Vehicles are placed into different classes for purposes of the Dartford Crossing. The class of your vehicle determines the exact road user charge.

Vehicle class A includes:

  • motorcycles with 2 or 3 wheels
  • 3 wheel cars
  • quad bikes/quadricycles
Vehicle class B includes:

  • cars with or without trailers, caravans etc
  • motorhomes
  • passenger vans and buses with no more than 8 seats in addition to the driver’s seat
Vehicle class C includes:

  • goods vans, including car-based vans without side windows behind the driver
  • vans/buses with more than 8 seats in addition to the driver’s seat
  • Goods vehicles with 2 axles
  • 2 axle goods vehicle with a drawbar trailer
Vehicle class D includes:

  • goods vehicles with more than two axles (whether dropped or not)
  • buses and coaches with more than two axles
  • articulated vehicles with a semi-trailer
 
May 29, 2013
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There does not seem to be any info on the Dart websites about HOW you pre-pay on-line or by phone, have I missed it somehow?

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GJH

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If it is closed for any reason then how does the LEZ non compliant diversion. meaning that you must go 121 miles to get to the A2 by going all the way around the wrong way of the M25 SAVE POLLUTION.
Several thousand lorries driving for two and a half hours and burning god knows how much fuel each. That is peculiar thinking when the Blackwall tunnel is available but banned.
See Broken Link Removed. If you receive a charge notice because you had to follow an official diversion you can get the charge cancelled.

Diverted into the Low Emission Zone - If you are diverted into the Low Emission Zone due to an incident, accident or road works, you should either follow the diversion route or leave as soon as possible. When making a Representation please give as many details as possible including the date, time and location of the diversion; details of the incident that may relate for instance an accident on the M25 and if you spoke with a police officer. We will check our records to confirm if there was a diversion. If, however, you enter the Low Emission Zone just to avoid traffic or got lost then these are not valid grounds for Representation
 
Nov 6, 2013
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Had an email update today:

The new payment arrangements at the Dartford Crossing will come into effect on 30 November 2014:

  • from 6am on Sunday 30 November you’ll no longer pay at the barriers
  • the current payment arrangements will continue until Dart Charge goes live
  • we’ll start the main roadworks to remove the booths and introduce a new road layout in late November; due for completion spring 2015
We’ll be in touch shortly with further information about how you can transfer your existing DART-Tag account or set up a new account to get ready for Dart Charge.

Visit our Dart Charge web page for more information.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dart-charge
 

Shovelheadrob

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I use 2 vehicles, my American Ford F350 & my Transit van, both are class B as they both have windows behind the driver's seat, but when I go across in the van a message is displayed saying non compliant vehicle, the attendant has to override this & the barrier goes up. I can see problems ahead with the new system! The best thing they did was abolish charges for trailers.

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