Yes indeed a very big thank you to Mods and techies, seasons greetings.

I had actually not heard of a Wildcat so for a visual comparison of recent visitors to DX

Duxford Thursday 11th December

Noted visiting Duxford this morning was a Wildcat. Unfortunately not of the Grumman variety but an AW159 ZZ378 of the Royal Navy.

ZZ378 AW159 Wildcat

LYNX ZD262 HMA8 SRU
15Dec2014_8550

Perfect return trip today, south to north no hold ups anywhere M25, M1 and M6. 10:30 at the crossing no queues, for the crossing, in either direction. The toll gates have not been removed yet on the tunnel side so you still have to channel through and rather bizarrely the barriers are still in operation so you still have to hesitate between each vehicle for the barrier to go down and up again! They were still dismantling the booths on the bridge side so it will probably be a week or so before they have room to bypass the tunnel booths.

If this system proves ‘efficient’ perhaps it could be rolled-out over the whole road system? 😉

Now there’s a cheery thought first thing in the morning! I hate all forms of indirect taxation. Pay once on income and then you know exactly how much tax you are paying and you save all the overheads of operating all the different schemes. But then I am naive.

How? Are there barriers? Or security staff to give pursuit?

Neither they just accept that they will loose £6m a year and just increase the “charge”, it is not a “toll” apparently, all the law abiding travellers to cover the loss!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23334597

Interestingly the original PFI contract required what was originally a toll to cease when the debts had been paid off. However, as usual this was the thin end of the wedge and when the time came in 2002 the government changed it from a toll to a charge to keep the revenue stream.

Moggy, Thanks for mentioning dartsave, I looked at them after one of your previous posts and of course they charge you the full £2.50 for this service.
Being the anally retentive type of person I am I did look at the cost to me.

Before my single crossing yesterday my account balance was £10. One crossing reduced it to £8.33 so immediately a ten pound top up!!!!! Thus they now have £18.33. However, you have saved 83p. If you didn’t use the crossing again for 12 months then you would only be better off if you had had the money invested at a return greater than 4.5% which is tricky these days. Of course, if you need the £20 it’s a different matter.

What I object to is them holding so much money when the unit charge is relatively so low when compared to public transport and an Oyster card, with the exception of buses that is. Although you could argue their income from the money held contributes to the reduction in the crossing charge.

I did worn you I am OCPD!!!

Paul

Hi, Have the horrendous queues gone please?

Just set up my account and was a little surprised to find top up threshold is £10 and min top up is £10. That means they have £10 times the number of accounts in the bank almost all the time. For infrequent users this is a bit much but with interest rates as they are and the 83p reduction then it is OK but the principle not.
My Oyster top up threshold is £10 but then I would use that in one day out whereas the £10 bridge would probably last me the year.

There is a very large construction company with its roots in North Wales (the Costain of North Wales) who I certainly would consider worth approaching for sponsorship and they have almost certainly got all the equipment necessary. I am sure it would be a big media event here and I would have thought in the scale of advertising cheap publicity.

Another thought is that the historic military and commercial vehicle enthusiasts have such equipment as Militants and low loaders as do the traction engine guys and may well be interested to be involved. There is a a large association which holds a steam rally on Anglesey every year who may well be interested in getting involved.