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M6 Toll goes up for sale

The M6 Toll is being put up for sale by the banks that own it in a bid to get back the £1.9 billion they are owed.

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They believe that the recent improving performance of the UK's only private motorway could make it a good time to sell.

The move could put nationalisation of the road back on the table.

Just two months ago South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson asked roads minister Andrew Jones to explore taking the toll road into state ownership.

But David Frost, chairman of the Staffordshire and Stoke Local Enterprise Partnership, urged caution: "If it was nationalised, where would the money come from? If it was from the transport budget, that would mean money not being spent elsewhere.

Now the route is on the market after the banks that own it decided to try and claw back the near £2 billion they spent financing it.

Surely this is the perfect opportunity for the government to step in and buy it?

Losses for the toll road's operating company were down £3.9m to £28.6m in 2014, with usage numbers improving over the period.

Under government control - and with reduced prices - the route could finally reach the 75,000 vehicles a day figure that was predicted 13 years ago.

At the moment it is still well short of that target, and cost is undoubtedly a major factor.

The current charges of £5.50 for cars and up to £11 for lorries is too expensive. If another private firm takes over there is a danger that the prices could stay the same or even increase.

An added benefit could be the freeing up of the seemingly permanently clogged M6, making travelling on roads through the West Midlands bearable again.

South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson has asked ministers to explore taking the toll road into state ownership.

"But I think this is an opportunity to look at how we can make best use of it as part of the national road system."

In its last set of financial figures, for 2014, toll operating company Midland Expressway cut its losses to £28.6 million, from £32.5m the year before. And traffic numbers have been improving.

This has been put down to the UK's improving economy as well as drivers looking for an alternative to the roadworks and heavy traffic clogging the main M6 motorway through the region.

The toll road, which currently charges cars £5.50 and lorries up to £11, has never reached the 75,000 vehicles a day predicted when it was first opened in 2003. But the daily average has now risen to nearly 48,000 a day, with 17.4 million vehicles using the road during 2015.

The motorway has at times been controversial. UKIP called for the tolls to be scrapped last year

And a 28 per cent surge in HGVs using the motorway in the last three months of they year will also raise hopes M6 Toll can bring in even more money. Revenue in 2014 was £69 million, up 5.5 per cent on the previous year. And the road's owners are expecting to see an even bigger increase for 2015.

The road has been owned by consortium of 27 lenders, including French bank Credit Agricole, German group Commerzbank and Portugal's Novo Banco, since a major debt restructuring move in 2013.

It saw them take over ownership from Macquarie, the Australian group that built the road. The banks now pay Macquarie a fee to run the road through its Midland Expressway company, which has the contract to operate and maintain the M6 Toll until 2054.

The banks now believe there is a growing appetite in the world's investment market for major infrastructure projects like the M6 Toll. Although they are not putting a price tag on the deal, they aim to fully recover the £1.9 billion of debt they are owed.

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