The September 2025 Dart Charge price rise, in full
Eleven years after the toll booths came down, the Department for Transport lifted every Dart Charge rate by roughly 40 per cent. This page lays out the before-and-after for every vehicle class, the annual cost impact for a typical commuter, and the rationale set out in the consultation response.
Before vs after, every class
Pay-as-you-go and pre-pay both moved. The rough rule of thumb: every PAYG rate went up by £1.00 or £2.40, every pre-pay rate by 80p or £1.20.
| Class | Method | Pre-Sept 2025 | From 1 Sept 2025 | £ change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorcycle (A) | PAYG | Free | Free | £0.00 | 0% |
| Pre-pay | Free | Free | £0.00 | 0% | |
| Car (B) | PAYG | £2.50 | £3.50 | +£1.00 | +40% |
| Pre-pay | £2.00 | £2.80 | +£0.80 | +40% | |
| 2-axle goods (C) | PAYG | £3.00 | £4.20 | +£1.20 | +40% |
| Pre-pay | £2.60 | £3.60 | +£1.00 | +38% | |
| Multi-axle HGV (D) | PAYG | £6.00 | £8.40 | +£2.40 | +40% |
| Pre-pay | £5.19 | £7.20 | +£2.01 | +39% | |
| Resident, unlimited | Annual | £20 | £25 | +£5 | +25% |
| Resident, 50 crossings | Annual | £10 | £12.50 | +£2.50 | +25% |
Source: gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge/charges. The pre-2025 figures come from the same site's archived version (Wayback Machine, August 2025 snapshot).
Annual cost impact for a typical commuter
A 5-days-a-week commuter using pay-as-you-go on a car was paying £1,300 a year before September 2025 (£2.50 x 520 crossings). The same commuter now pays £1,820. That's £520 a year more, or roughly a month's premium energy bill.
Switching to pre-pay drops it to £1,456 (£2.80 x 520). Switching to the £25 resident pass, if eligible, drops it to £25 flat. The 2025 increase, in other words, made the pre-pay and resident discounts the single biggest cost lever a regular crosser has.
Why the Government raised the price
The Department for Transport set out three reasons in its consultation response in early 2025.
Reason 1
Eleven years of inflation
Prices last moved in November 2014. CPI inflation between Nov 2014 and Aug 2025 was around 34 per cent. The 40 per cent uplift roughly restores the 2014 real-terms rate, with a small premium.
Reason 2
Demand management
The crossing carries roughly 150,000 vehicles a day against a design capacity of 135,000. Higher prices, the DfT argued, would suppress discretionary trips and ease the worst peak congestion.
Reason 3
Lower Thames Crossing funding
Construction on the Lower Thames Crossing began in March 2026. The DfT identified part of the Dart Charge uplift as contributing toward the construction-phase debt service.
What the consultation said
Roughly 14,000 responses came in during the 2024 consultation window. The summary was unambiguous: a majority opposed any rise. The objections clustered into three themes.
- Cost-of-living timing. A 40 per cent rise during the late-2024 cost-of-living squeeze was widely seen as disproportionate. Local commuters with no realistic alternative route bear the cost.
- No realistic alternative. The next closest road crossings (Blackwall, Silvertown) are 16-18 miles west in central London and were not viable for east-Essex / east-Kent journeys. Avoidance, in practice, was not an option.
- Local-resident pass not protected enough. Many Dartford and Thurrock respondents argued the resident pass should have stayed at £20. The DfT raised it 25 per cent rather than the headline 40, but did not freeze it.
The DfT proceeded after Parliamentary scrutiny via Statutory Instrument. The new rates were laid in mid-2025 and took effect at 6am on 1 September.
What did not change in September 2025
- The free 10pm-6am window. Still free, every day.
- The £70 PCN amount (£35 with early payment, £105 charge certificate).
- Eligibility for the local-resident pass (DA and RM postcodes).
- The 9-or-fewer-seat threshold for Class B vs Class C.
- The 4.88m tunnel height limit and bridge diversion for tall vehicles.
- The 24-hour-before / day-after payment window.
- The 20-vehicle limit per pre-pay account.
Read next
2026 price list
The current rate table, every class.
Full price history 2003-2026
£1 cash in 2003 to £3.50 ANPR in 2026.
Pre-pay account
The 70p / crossing saving, in detail.
Daily commuter cost
Annual maths at 5x/week, before vs after.
Dartford resident pass
DA postcodes, £25/year unlimited.
Thurrock resident pass
RM postcodes, same £25/year.
Questions about the 2025 increase
When did the Dart Charge price rise take effect?+
Charges changed at 06:00 on 1 September 2025. Vehicles crossing during the free overnight window the night before paid nothing under either rate. The first crossings billed at the new rate were the morning rush on 1 September.
Why did the Dartford Crossing price go up by 40 per cent?+
The Department for Transport set out three reasons in the consultation response: inflation between 2014 and 2025 was uncompensated; the crossing carried 150,000 vehicles a day, well above its 135,000 design capacity, requiring fresh demand-management; and the increase provides ringfenced funding for the Lower Thames Crossing as construction starts.
Was there a consultation before the 2025 increase?+
Yes. The Department for Transport ran a public consultation in 2024. Around 14,000 responses came in, the majority against any increase. The Government proceeded after a Statutory Instrument went through Parliament in summer 2025.
Did the resident pass go up by 40 per cent too?+
No. The local-resident pass rose by 25 per cent, from £20 a year to £25 (unlimited tier) and from £10 to £12.50 (50-crossing tier). The flat-fee structure was kept the same and the eligibility postcodes did not change.
Will the price go up again in 2026?+
No 2026 increase has been announced. The September 2025 increase was the first since the Dart Charge replaced the toll booths in November 2014, an eleven-year gap. The Statutory Instrument that set the new rates does not include an inflationary uprating clause.
Did Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) amounts change in 2025 too?+
No. The £70 PCN, the £35 early-payment discount and the £105 charge certificate escalation all stayed the same. Only the crossing charges themselves rose.