Electronic tolls deal means Government benefit from increased M50 traffic

THE State will be the main beneficiary of any increase in traffic levels following the removal of toll barriers on the Westlink bridge on the M50.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) revealed yesterday that National Toll Roads (NTR), the owner of the Westlink toll, will only receive €50m per year, regardless of the predicted rise in traffic on the M50.

The Government announced last month that it had agreed a €600m deal with NTR to buy out its contract to operate the lucrative toll bridge.