Almost €170 million in toll charges was collected from motorists on the M50 last year.
Last year saw an almost €30 million increase compared to 2021, and is also significantly above pre-pandemic levels. A total of over €344 million in toll revenue was collected on the ten tolls on motorways and national roads that the State is involved with.
In 2022, the M50 toll charges made up almost half of last year's income with €169.6 million collected from motorists passing through the toll. This is a major increase compared to €140 million in toll charges collected in 2021, and it also exceeds the pre-Covid high in 2019, of almost €161 million, according to figures obtained by Newstalk from Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
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After the M50, the second highest revenue collected from a toll last year was on the M1 toll in Dundalk with garnered over €32 million in toll charges from commuters. Meanwhile, Aontú is calling for the Government to get rid of the toll on the M50 for commuters.
Aontú leader Deputy Peadar Toibin has claimed that the M50 is being used "purely as a tax" on commuters. Deputy Toibin said: "The M50 has already been paid for over and over again by the people.
"We've paid well over a billion euros to pay for the M50; so the Government is purely using this as a tax on commuters. We're calling for the Government to get rid of the toll on the M50 - there's no need for it anymore."
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