Tamar Bridge committee rejects TamarTag fee rise after 82% object

Plans to charge TamarTag users more each month have been thrown out. And it was the people who cross the Tamar every day who made the difference.

The Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee voted unanimously on Friday 26 June to reject the proposed increase to the TamarTag admin fee. The decision came after a public consultation in which 82% of respondents opposed the plan.

What was on the table

The proposal would have raised the monthly TamarTag admin fee from 80p to £2. TamarTag is the prepaid electronic system that gives regular users a discounted toll on the Tamar Bridge and the Torpoint Ferry. The fee had stayed at 80p since 2014, and operator Tamar Crossings said it no longer covered the cost of running the scheme.

It was always going to be a hard sell. Drivers had already absorbed a toll increase in May 2025, and the idea of paying more on top of that did not go down well on either side of the water.

MPs on both sides welcome the result

Anna Gelderd, MP for South East Cornwall, said local opposition had been impossible to ignore.

“I welcome the Joint Committee’s decision to reject the proposed increase to the TamarTag admin fee. Local people have made their views very clear, with 82% of respondents opposing the proposal in the consultation.

“Residents and businesses in South East Cornwall already shoulder a disproportionate share of the cost of the Tamar Crossings while earning below the national average. I’ve been campaigning alongside Luke Pollard and Fred Thomas for cheaper crossings for local people, not higher charges.

“I recognise the financial pressures facing the Crossings, but asking local people to pay more is not the answer. We need a fairer, long-term funding solution that reduces the burden on the communities who rely on these crossings every day and that’s what I’ll continue working with all stakeholders to secure.”

Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, was sharper about how the process had played out.

“This is the right decision by the joint committee, but it never should have come to this. This consultation has wasted 6 months, and goodness knows how much taxpayer money.

“We now need to be working together to get cheaper tolls for local people, which is what I have always been working towards.”

The bigger fight over tolls

For the MPs, blocking the fee rise is only part of the job. Anna has been campaigning alongside Luke and Fred Thomas, MP for Plymouth Moor View, for cheaper crossings rather than higher charges for the people who depend on them every day.

The fee is staying at 80p. What the MPs want next is a long-term funding answer that does not keep landing on the communities who use the bridge and the ferry to get to work, school and hospital appointments.