M6 roadworks push 1.6m more vehicles onto toll road

An extra 1.6 million cars and lorries have used Staffordshire's toll motorway, new figures reveal today.

The increase is boosting revenues as drivers seek an alternative to major roadworks and long delays on the M6.

But Midland Expressway, which runs the 27-mile long M6 Toll, still racked up losses of more than £30 million, weighed down by interest and repayments on the £900m cost of building the road eight years ago.

The toll motorway saw a surge in use last year, due to the work on the M6 and a free month offered to vehicle fleets run by members of the Road Haulage Association.

Midland Expressway's annual financial report, just filed with Companies House, reveals toll revenue in 2013 rose 13.5 per cent to £65.9 million. Traffic increased 12.1 per cent to 14.65 million vehicles during the year, up 1.6 million on 2012.

In his strategic report, chief executive Tom Fanning said: "Traffic volumes and toll revenues for the year benefited from roadworks in place on the competing M6, which ran throughout 2013 until completion in April 2014."

But he warned an improved M6 'may provide significant challenges' to the M6 Toll in the longer term.

In the meantime, the acceleration of the Highways Agency's Smart Motorway project widening and improving the M6 is likely to boost traffic for the toll road until the work is completed in 2015.

The toll road company also is hoping that it will benefit from long term expansion of the Smart Motorway programme between Birmingham and Manchester.

The company's operating profits – the amount it made from running the business – rose to £37.7 million, from £32.4m the year before.

But it still owes more than £630 million to Australian parent company Macquarie for the cost of building the road.