never been through it or over it in my life , so in a truck what do you ,and whats a dart tag and what do you do with it . ta
the tunnel goes under the river ,the bridge goes 285 feet above it ,up to £2.90 each way in an artic,and a tag your boss would get to receive some discount and to avoid you having to pay the toll and claim it back,the tag goes in the windscreen and is read by a reader to show you have one (on all lanes),and will lift the barrier automatically.over night is a bit cheaper than the day rate.
Motorbikes - free
Cars £1
Vans & Trucks (2 axle) £1.80
Multiaxle £2.90
Trailers for cars and vans the same as the towing vehicle, a transit towing a compressor is £3.60, an artic £2.90 
Just looking at the website a multi axle goods & trailer is £5.80 (but I’m sure that’s a wag & drag)
The tags are prepaid and you get 7.5% discount. If you drive a 6 wheeler with a multiaxle tag it costs £2.90 with the tag axle lifted. If you had a van/truck one as well it’d only cost £1.80 (I am campaigning for a van / truck one too)
Overnight is a flat rate £1 up to 0600. The queues do build up just before 0600 as people try and get through a bit cheaper.
Never follow a foreigner either, not many have tags and they generally stop and get out to pay or clamber across.
Heading into Essex there are about 12 or so toll booths feeding 2 tunnels each 2 lane, HGV can use the left lane of either but as above the left is 15’9" and the right 16’6" All dangerous goods get held in a layby by the left tunnel and escorted through by the tunnel police (or whatever they’re called) Once on the move they go through quick but they stop all the traffic to allow the convoy to get into the tunnel first. The right tunnel is unaffected and a better bet, my record is going through booth 2 and getting across to the right hand tunnel to avoid the convoy, never managed from lane 1 yet.
As you approach the booths heading toward the tunnels the 5 lanes fan out to the booths with white lines suggesting the booths to head for , lane 3 however only ends at one booth and is worth avoiding on the approach.
I’ve used the crossing so much that I’ve worked all this out to try and get through as quick as poss.
As Mark says,the Dart Tag,which looks not unlike a mobile phone,just lay it on your dash,and as you pull up to the toll barrier,the barrier will lift automatically,I find I have to go slightly past the pay window before it operates.
Going South,clockwise,you go over the bridge,going North,anticlockwise,you go under the tunnel.The toll booths are all on the South side.
Just a word of warning however, if your travelling over 16’0 (i.e like me in a car transporter) you will probably set of the height alarms and will be sent over to the layby to wait for an ■■■■■■ through the right hand tunnel… As far as I remember the left hand tunnel has about a 15’0 height limit and the right hand is about 16’6 or the other way round… One of the many added bonuses of driving car tranporters!!!
8wheels that’s good info, thanks. Haven’t used it much but did come thru a few days back. Must have used one of the booths on the far left, there’s then a hell of a lot of signage to read re heights etc. in a short distance b4 the tunnels.
I certainly see what you mean about getting over to the right tunnel if you’ve used the far left booths. Luckily, I didn’t need to.
The right tunnel is ofcourse the old South bound tunnel.
Ah, the good old dart tag.
I wrote a letter of complaint about their slogan which is somert along the lines of ‘The faster, easier and cheaper’ way to pay. Easier and cheaper. I can go along with that but faster 
When I need to use it it’s always at night and you normally have two booths open in each direction So, if you come down there when the boat comes in you can find yourself behind a major queue of people. If, and it could happen, all those people were paying cash then HTF does that make it faster for you You wait twenty minutes in a queue and then save yourself 2 nanoseconds because you have a tag Surely, you’re making things faster for those paying by cash as well as you’re out the way quicker Why oh why can the stingy gits not open a booth for tag only 
The tightfisted ■■■■■ couldn’t even be bothered to reply to my letter which I admit was downright rude but they probably only read and write French. I got a friend (who owns a business) to then do another one and he did get a reply but they just said exactly what we said they would insomuch as having to pay the extra expense to man another booth.It’d make a huge dent in their profits that would
■■■■■ they are. ■■■■ ■■■■
One point to watch is that the right hand lanes at the booths are autopay car ONLY lanes, the left hand lanes are for any vehicles.
At the start of the bridge lanes 3/4 are marked with a 7’6" width restriction, as you come over the top the width restrictions dissapear with only an advisory sign on the gantry - all vehicles lane 1/2, cars lane 3/4.
However lane 3 feeds into a mixture of any vehicle and car only booths which can sometimes be quicker as the foreigners don’t know to use it (I agree with 8wheels to advoid them).
Also past the booths going south lane 1/2 becomes the A2 slip road and lane 3/4 the M25 so if you have used the left hand booths you may have to fight your way back over to the right again.
There is some info at highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/4075.aspx including this gem.
Q. Is there any assistance available for motorists who are concerned about driving through the tunnels or across the bridge?
A. The Crossing staff will be pleased to drive customers’ vehicles. Drivers should report to Booth 1on the Kent side or Essex Control Point for assistance. You will be required to sign an insurance disclaimer prior to the journey and you should allow up to 30 minutes for the transfer from arrival at the Crossing.
I am nervous about heights but not had to resort to this yet 
Just to add, The lanes that trucks can use have Green signage above the booths (Any vehicle). When over 15’9 going northbound (tunnels) it pays to approach in lane 3 where possible and try to get in the outside green lane. Often the traffic moves quicker in L3 especially during morning rush avoid L2 like the plague. When going S/B and not taking the A2, get over into L3 ASAP after the booths and at the mo watch out for the average speed cameras all the way up to junction 3.
Useful 1st post Trev. Welcome to Trucknet 
i think i will throw my two pence in…
Why do certain drivers, normally petrol tankers have to get into lane 3 as soon as they leave the booths on the Kent side.
It drives me mad 
They have a least 2 or 3 mile to get over, why do it there, when they are fully loaded!!!
If you go through with a 6x2 unit solo lift the axle and you go through cheaper !!!
jimboy124:
i think i will throw my two pence in…Why do certain drivers, normally petrol tankers have to get into lane 3 as soon as they leave the booths on the Kent side.
It drives me madThey have a least 2 or 3 mile to get over, why do it there, when they are fully loaded!!!
I’m no tanker driver but I always where possible get into L3 early here especially when freighted. It’s about 1.75 miles from booths to where the lanes split but the first mile is an uphill gradient with a left curve that makes it difficult to see overtakers until they are right on top of you.
Aggresive driving reaches it’s peak in Kent along this stretch and trust me, if you stick to 50 like you’re supposed to getting into L3 will be hard if you leave it late. (Been there done that.)
T_Trev:
jimboy124:
i think i will throw my two pence in…Why do certain drivers, normally petrol tankers have to get into lane 3 as soon as they leave the booths on the Kent side.
It drives me madThey have a least 2 or 3 mile to get over, why do it there, when they are fully loaded!!!
I’m no tanker driver but I always where possible get into L3 early here especially when freighted. It’s about 1.75 miles from booths to where the lanes split but the first mile is an uphill gradient with a left curve that makes it difficult to see overtakers until they are right on top of you.
Aggresive driving reaches it’s peak in Kent along this stretch and trust me, if you stick to 50 like you’re supposed to getting into L3 will be hard if you leave it late. (Been there done that.)
point taken … i must be that agressive arse then. But to me it makes more sense to get a bit of speed up before you change lane…
still you still cant beat the car drivers coming across you to exit at Erith from the auto toll lanes …Hey??
jimboy124:
point taken … i must be that agressive arse then.
still you still cant beat the car drivers coming across you to exit at Erith from the auto toll lanes …Hey??
That’s bad - but this is worse, the other week ~11pm quiet time of night I’d come through unfreighted and moved over to L3 early. Set 79 Kph on cruise as I approached the 50 limit. This Audi driver comes up the inside weaving all over as he is reading a map whilst driving. He nearly forces me into L4 b4 accelerating off down the road. Then just b4 the split he brakes hard and veers into my Lane causing me to ease off quite a bit. So - like you do I give him a rear view mirror of high beam for a couple of seconds. The T&*% then goes and brake tests me b4 winding down his window and pointing at the 50 signs !!!
After 23 years they still amaze me every day.
Does anyone know what time the second tunnel closes to northbound traffic?
Reason being that when in the area I am using a Double Decker and its a bugger having to go all the way round the M25 in the wee hours as the 2nd tunnel is shut!
Also, why do they do this!?
Also make sure your gaffer gives you a YELLOW tag for arctics and a RED one for rigids.
I found out the hard way last week…
. just had a couple of quid for coffees and had to fill a form in both time
i have got my old innovate one here .
my tag used to beep as well
Can anyone tell me if these dart tags are interchangable between vehicles or are they fixed?
i.e. Can one truck go over one day and then give another truck the same tag the next day? and
Are they registered to a specific registration number?
They used to be transferrable. We just had them in the key bags for the runs when I was on New Look, so whichever motor was allocated took the bag. Same with Severn tags.