Quote:
Originally Posted by mertle
Another reason why to be very concerned M6 has already got HUGE issues.
M6 debt already causing concern this next to second largest city. There simply not enough USING it causing concerns of low yields this road already worrying investors.
Take look at this evidence this will be financial nightmare. Santander, credit acricole and banco espirito are all looking to bail. They already want to sell the debt to some lemon out there. No doubt the lemon will be the uk tax payer. Why its already happened with another debt road toll failure.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d0d22e02-d...44feabdc0.html
It happened with humber bridge the debt could never be paid off tolls was spiralling simply due to lack numbers using it.
So the government bought half the debt of the bridge board reduced tolls by half. To hope more use the bridge to turn things around.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-16955516
Now if this will happen down the road as companies make killing by running debt building the thing. Struggle to surface the debt and make enough from tolls/charges. Then down the road the serviving government will have to bail the road infrastructure out by buying the debt.
This could HAUNT US further down the road.
It so obvious as its already looking M6 heading the same way the government already doing this with humber bridge. |
You would be daft ever to use the M6 Toll unless it was somehow unavoidable - I only used it once, to visit family who lived right next to one of its exits. It was late at night and I had a car load of sleepy children. Otherwise I'd have taken my chances with the surrounding A roads.
For longer journeys I traverse between the M6 and the M1 using the A50 between Stoke and Derby or just take a punt on the M6 through Birmingham.
For all these reasons the M6 Toll was doomed from day one. We must either have a comprehensive route network of tolled motorways - with mile-for-mile costs similar to those in Europe and not the eye-watering levy imposed on the M6 Toll - or no toll roads at all. One easily-bypassed toll road is pointless.
Personally I'm against toll roads. The amount of travelling people can do is already heavily restricted by taxation on fuel and VED. However I note that today's feverish Press coverage does not report that we are poised to get a toll network, simply that private companies might be allowed to manage our roads and earn incentives, paid by the treasury, if they are good at it.