Tyne Tunnel price rise from today
It'll cost a bit more from 1st May to use the tunnels
The toll for driving through the Tyne Tunnel has increased.
As of today (Thursday, May 1) the charge for cars to use the crossing will jump from £2.40 to £2.50 and from £4.80 to £5 for HGVs and other large vehicles.
Motorists who pay for their tolls with a pre-paid account will continue to get a 10% discount on the cost, making their new charges either £2.25 or £4.50.
Politicians signed off on the price hike at a North East Combined Authority meeting earlier this year.
In an email to drivers explaining the toll increase on Wednesday, tunnels operator TT2 said: “The Tyne Tunnels are an integral piece of the North East’s road network and are privately operated and maintained roads. The construction of the second Tyne Tunnel, as well as the 24/7 operation and maintenance of both tunnels are funded solely by tolls and do not receive public funding.
“In January 2025, the North East Combined Authority confirmed that the Tyne Tunnels toll will be increasing to £2.50 for Class 2 vehicles and £5.00 for Class 3 vehicles (10% discount for Pre-Paid Account holders).
“Toll changes are applied by the North East Combined Authority and are necessary to cover the running and maintenance costs of the tunnels and repay the costs of the construction of the second Tyne Tunnel, in-line with inflation.”
It is now more than three years since the Tyne Tunnel’s old toll booths and barriers were ditched in November 2021.
Since then, a cashless ‘free flow’ system using number plate recognition cameras has been used in a bid to reduce journey times and emissions.
Drivers must now pay their toll either online, with a pre-paid account, over the phone, or in shops with PayPoint counters by a deadline of midnight on the day after their journey.
The move sparked complaints about the new payment methods, enforcement notices threatening legal action, and fines being wrongly issued – in some cases to people living hundreds of miles away from the North East.
Latest figures from TT2 show that 98.25% people paid their toll on time in February this year, out of more than 1.5 million vehicles which passed through the tunnel. That was a slight improvement on the 97.83% 12 months prior.
As of the end of February, a total of £38.6 million of revenue had been generated from the tunnels – including £9.5 million from penalty notices issued for unpaid tolls.