Sadiq Khan RIP OFF EXPOSED: Drivers face £4 toll charge for Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels – draft TFL sign shows

The Transport Secretary, Mark Harper has approved a request from Transport for London (TfL) to install road signs.

Currently the Blackwall tunnels – which carry traffic under the Thames in two two-lane tunnels, one northbound and one southbound – are free to use.

However, drivers could face a new toll for the Blackwall tunnel and for the Silvertown tunnel when it opens in two years.

The Silvertown tunnel, which links Silvertown to the Greenwich Peninsula in east London will be a four-lane tunnel and will open in 2025.

Details published on the Department for Transport website suggest the tunnels will be tolled between 6am and 10pm.

Motorcyclists will pay up to £3, car drivers up to £4 and other vehicles up to £8.50.

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Drivers will reportedly be charged for each crossing, not for a return journey.

Other drafted signs include information instructing a driver about the final exit to take before the tunnels' charge kicks in.

TfL insist no decision had been made, adding that the figures were just “placeholders” used to illustrate the design layout of the signs.

The Silvertown tunnel, which Sadiq Khan oversees, does not yet have a set figure to use the tunnel.

The toll amount is not expected to be announced until much closer to the opening date.

Drivers will have to pay the fee online rather than at a toll booth.

A spokesperson for the Stop the Silvertown tunnel, which spotted the DfT approval of the road signs, told the Evening Standard: “Ulez expansion faced fierce resistance - but it also had political support, because it was intended to reduce exisiting pollution.

“The proposed new toll on the Blackwall tunnel brings no benefits at all; it is there only to remove the new, extra traffic, congestion, pollution and CO2 emissions that will be generated by the Mayor’s own Silvertown tunnel."

A TfL spokesperson said: “In order to obtain necessary approvals for the new road signage required for the Silvertown tunnel, a submission for the potential signs has been made to the Department for Transport.

“No charges have been finalised yet and any times and costs within the submission are indicative to allow for approval to be obtained.

“The final charges will be made ahead of the Silvertown tunnel opening in 2025 once further modelling, including assessments on concessions, are completed.”