The Dartford Crossing has been ranked as the toll road earning the highest revenue in the UK with more than £200 million per year, a new study has revealed.

Moneybarn Car Finance looked into the total toll revenues and the cost of a full price toll on a weekday to find which of the country’s toll roads make the most money and which will cost you the most to use. 

The Dartford Crossing consists of two tunnels and the Queen Elizabeth II bridge connecting London and Kent - and its earns the highest revenue of £209 million per year, Moneybarn Car Finance says it has found.

Around £90 million of this comes from drivers paying via accounts, while £45 million comes from those without accounts.

Highest-earning toll roads in UK rankedHighest-earning toll roads in UK ranked (Image: Moneybarn) The vehicle finance firm added: "Interestingly, a large bulk of the bridge’s income, £73 million, comes from ‘enforcement’, meaning fines for those who have failed to pay!"

The bridge was unveiled in 1991, a few years after the completion of London’s M25. 

According to the RAC, in 1999 the Government made an announcement the crossing would become toll-free by the end of 2003. However, in 2001, the Government reversed its decision, and the agreement was no longer upheld.

Despite the original debt being repaid by 2003, fees were increased in 2014 with the implementation of the Dart Charge system, which eradicated toll booths and necessitated online or phone payments.

The M6 Toll road earns the second highest revenue of £53.7 million per year while the Mersey Gateway in Cheshire, connecting the towns of Runcorn and Widnes, is the third highest earning toll road, making more than £40 million between October 2020 and September 2021.

The Mersey Gateway actually refers to two bridges, the Gateway itself and the nearby Silver Jubilee Bridge, that it was built to ease pressure on, which was then also converted into a toll bridge.

Currently, the Government does not have any intentions to eliminate the road user charge at the Dartford Crossing.

In response to a now-closed petition, the Government stated that the charge exists to manage the demand for the crossing.

The rationale behind maintaining the charges is to prevent a significant increase in traffic volumes and subsequent congestion that would occur without these fees.

In July 2021, then under-secretary for the Department of Transport, Conservative MP Rachel Maclean, explained: “A Road User Charge has been in place at the crossing since 2003 to manage high demand for its use, after a 2001 study reported that traffic levels would be 17 per cent higher if the charge was removed.”