Dublin's toll bridges net nearly €1m per week

DUBLIN’S East Link and West Link toll bridges took in nearly €1 million every week last year.

Toll road operator NTR said yesterday traffic volumes increased by almost 4% during the year as almost 36m vehicles passed through its toll booths in Dublin.

A further 7m paid tolls on the new Drogheda bypass on the Dublin-Belfast road, which opened in June.

Excluding the Government’s share, tolls generated €36.2m of NTR’s €211m total revenue.

The company reported pre-tax profits of €16.8m yesterday. But future toll revenue will be higher after price increases earlier this year.

These brought the cost of a trip across the Liffey on the M50 orbital route up 15% from €1.30 to €1.50, while the East Link toll went up from €1.30 to €1.35.

And as tolls get higher, they will also become more widespread. Work has already started on the Kilcock-Kinnegad tolled bypass on the Dublin-Galway road.