Toll charge and scheme detail changes from 1 April 2025
Amendments to Toll Charges, Penalty Charge Notices and Merseyflow Terms & Conditions effective from 1 April 2025
From 1 April 2025, amendments to the toll charges, Penalty Charge Notices and the Merseyflow Terms & Conditions will be effective.
The amendments are detailed below:
1) Toll Charges will increase by 20%
Toll charges on the Mersey Gateway and Silver Jubilee bridges will increase by 20% from 1 April 2025. This is the first increase in seven and a half years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened, meaning that the toll charges have increased by less than the cumulative RPI inflation rate which has already reached 40%.
The price of discounted journeys for registered merseyflow customers will also increase by similar amounts. Please see below the toll charges and costs for different plan and vehicle types that shall apply from 1 April 2025:
| Toll charges from 1st April 2025 |
| Vehicle plan |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Sticker-registered |
Free |
£2.15 |
£6.50 |
£8.65 |
| Video-registered |
Free |
£2.30 |
£6.85 |
£9.10 |
Unregistered toll/charge
(no discount) |
Free |
£2.40 |
£7.20 |
£9.60 |
The price of monthly passes will increase by a similar amount. Please see below the costs for monthly passes that shall apply from 1 April 2025:
| Monthly pass charges from 1st April 2025 |
| Vehicle type |
Pass type |
Cost |
Hours of validity |
| Class 2 vehicles only |
Unlimited travel pass |
£110 |
24 hours a day |
| Class 2 vehicles only |
Off-peak pass |
£75 |
10am – 4pm Monday – Friday
7pm – 7am Monday – Friday
24 hours a day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays |
The only place to register for an account or buy a monthly pass is on the merseyflow website:
Register for an account
2) Timetable for proposed future changes to toll charges
Future changes to toll charges will be considered once every three (3) years unless there are exceptional circumstances that require more frequent changes.
3) Penalty Charge Notice and Charge Certificate rates will increase
Penalty Charge Notice ("PCN") rates will increase from £40 to £50.
Registered merseyflow customers who pay the PCN within fourteen (14) days will be eligible for a discounted PCN rate of £25.
From 1 April 2025, there will be a new option available to unregistered customers who receive a PCN for the first time. Where an unregistered customer opts to pay the PCN within fourteen (14) days, the unregistered customer shall have the option to use the discounted £25 rate to open an account with Merseyflow and have their PCN cancelled. This will enable the new customer to have discounted crossings in the future.
Charge certificates will increase from £60 to £75.
There are no changes to enforcement fees, as these are set by a separate piece of government legislation.
4) Amendments to the Merseyflow Terms and Conditions
The Merseyflow Terms and Conditions cover various vehicle plans, including the Local User Discount Scheme ("LUDS") vehicle plan.
From 1 April 2025, the following changes shall be made to the Merseyflow Terms and Conditions which apply to the LUDS vehicle plan:
- the registration fee for the LUDS vehicle plan shall be £12, reflecting a 20% increase;
- the annual renewal of the LUDS vehicle plan shall be structured as follows:
- where customers have opened a LUDS vehicle plan prior to 1 April 2025 and have not opted in for automatic renewal and set up auto payment, the renewal fee shall be £12*;
- where customers have opened a LUDS vehicle plan prior to 1 April 2025 and have opted in for automatic renewal and set up auto payment, the annual renewal fee shall be discounted to £10; and
- where customers have opened a LUDS vehicle plan on or after 1 April 2025, customers will automatically be opted in for the auto-renewal (though they will have an option to opt out) and will also benefit from the discounted £10 annual renewal fee once they have set up auto payment.
- customers will be prohibited from registering vehicles with Merseyflow under both a LUDS vehicle plan and a Blue Badge vehicle plan. Any customer who qualifies for both discount schemes must choose which plan is the most appropriate for them; and
- a fair use policy has been introduced to provide greater monitoring rights for Halton Borough Council (including where acting through its agent Emovis). Where any LUDS vehicle plan holder makes more than 900 crossings a year, the LUDS vehicle plan holder may be requested to provide further information to demonstrate that the crossings are made in a personal capacity and that the LUDS vehicle plan is not being used for business purposes.
*Any Halton resident eligible for the LUDS vehicle plan can sign up for auto renewal/direct debit today by logging into their merseyflow account and making the switch to auto renewal/direct debit. Please note that in order to qualify for the discounted rate (£10) customers need to set up auto payment as well as switching to auto renewal.
Further information
Communication will be sent to all vehicle owners registered with merseyflow by the end of February 2025 to inform registered customers of the changes.
Toll charges are set by Halton Borough Council. The amendments to the toll charges, Penalty Charge Notices and the Merseyflow Terms and Conditions were approved at a full council meeting on the evening of Monday 10 February 2025.
You can find out more about the wider project finances and related activity by visiting the merseygateway.co.uk website pages below: