Toll costs across Europe

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Glenn A
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Toll costs across Europe

Post by Glenn A »

Out of interest, how many euros would it cost to drive on an autoroute/autostrada in France, Italy and Spain for 100 miles and what are the penalties should someone drive through a booth without paying?
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exiled
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

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Toll costs vary between the countries and the concession. On Cofiroute in France it is currently about 10c per km so your 100 miles would be in the area of 16 euros. Some concessions are cheaper, some dearer depending on the terrain, and France has a reputation of the highest tolls in Europe. The A13 (SAPN) autoroute de Normandie is 13,40 euro for 225km so roughly 6c/km, but that includes the free bits near Paris and Rouen so is probably up in the 10c/km level.

According to the French government website avoiding paying a toll is a 'Contravention of the Second Class'. Fines start at 150 euros depending on when you pay. Plus the autoroute company would reserve the right to sue for damage to their property.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by exiled »

I have had a look at a couple of concessions in Italy and Spain.

Italy - autostrade per l'Italia
Rome to Florence 274.8km, 14,20 Euro roughly 6c/km (9,60 euro for your 100 miles). Florence to Bologna is 6,30 euro for 88.1km (1c more per km due to the terrain).

Spain - aumar sa, covering the AP 7 around Valencia is 196km, 18,50 euro, so again about 9c/km.

It does seem that it is best to account 10c/km on a toll road, and Italy seems to be more reasonable in cost. As for penalties I would imagine Spain and Italy to be similar to France.
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Pleydell
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Pleydell »

I can't see there is any way to avoid the tolls in France, Spain or Italy as the tolls are barrier controlled. The only avoidable tolls are in Austria and Hungary which are paid for via tax disc which you can forget to buy.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by JohnnyMo »

Route Finder websites like ViaMichelin give toll information. So, if you want, make up some journeys and work out the rates.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

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Pleydell wrote:I can't see there is any way to avoid the tolls in France, Spain or Italy as the tolls are barrier controlled.
Watch this video then.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by FosseWay »

In terms of maximum cost per km, it would be hard to beat the Øresund bridge, which for a basic cash payment for a single crossing costs €38.
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MDTyKe
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by MDTyKe »

In Ireland, I think it's competitively cheap. But, not consistent (surprise surprise) so each route is completely different.

On saying that, I've had friends forget to bring Euro with them (Sterling not accepted) at the toll plaza on the M1 Southbound and they've actually taken Sterling, equating £1=€1 which was interesting. Mind you, it was around the time when the two currencies almost were at parity. I'm sure they have a backup plan though.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Lewandowski »

FosseWay wrote:In terms of maximum cost per km, it would be hard to beat the Øresund bridge, which for a basic cash payment for a single crossing costs €38.
I seem to recall that the Skye Bridge in Scotland was the most expensive toll road in Europe in terms of price/km travelled.

As for Polish tolls, they're a complete pain. The A2 is the only length of significant toll motorway in the country. So far, there's three barrier tolls between the border and Warsaw, which will rise to 7 once the Autostrada is complete. Each barrier will cost 11zl - and instead of having ticket system, they've gone for barriers - because the Poznan bypass and the Konin-Lodz section will be toll free.

77zl (around 17 pounds) will be the total charge from Swiecko/Frankfurt (Oder) - Warsaw, a distance of roughly 450km.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Truvelo »

MDTyKe wrote:friends forget to bring Euro with them (Sterling not accepted) at the toll plaza on the M1 Southbound and they've actually taken Sterling, equating £1=€1 which was interesting. Mind you, it was around the time when the two currencies almost were at parity. I'm sure they have a backup plan though.
I suppose by accepting Sterling at parity it means the toll operator can easily cover the cost of currency conversion and make a small profit from it. It's probably a lot less hassle than starting a lawsuit because the customer has no means of paying. I'm surprised the M1 tolls don't officially accept Sterling anyway given the fact that a lot of the traffic on that section is travelling between the two countries.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Lewandowski »

Truvelo wrote:I'm surprised the M1 tolls don't officially accept Sterling anyway given the fact that a lot of the traffic on that section is travelling between the two countries.
Seems rather odd to me, too. They could easily use parity as the rate of conversion - it would seem pretty unlikely that they could lose out by adopting such a rate, and could still massively gain.

If I recall correctly, the EUR tolls here are set at around 3.5 to the Zloty. The current exchange rate is hovering about 4.4/4.5, so it's quite a nice profit for them.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Mark Hewitt »

It's probably a political thing I guess! But certainly a lot of traffic will be starting in Belfast and going straight to Dublin so it would be a bit of a pain to have to find a cash point between the two, especially as it's not that far, certainly not the sort of distance where a rest stop is a must.

Don't they take credit/debit cards?
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Pleydell »

They can get a tag like everyone else. Why should they be forced to accept a foreign currency?
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by murphaph »

Pleydell wrote:They can get a tag like everyone else. Why should they be forced to accept a foreign currency?
In a spirit of cross border friendship? I would happily accept sterling at a punitive enough rate to encourage euro payment but at the same time cover all costs of changiing the coins to Euro at the end of the month. I would not expect the toll operator to accept sterling at a loss or anything near it. Euro is widely accepted in and around the border on the NI side as it makes business sense. Having said all that, I used to keep a few pounds sterling around the house for trips up north.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Pleydell wrote:Why should they be forced to accept a foreign currency?
Because it makes business sense to do so? The road the toll is on leads directly to/from a foreign country, so you can expect a good proportion of the cars on the road to be going to / coming from there.

So they don't take credit cards?
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Pleydell »

So they don't take credit cards?
Don't think so.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Pleydell wrote:
So they don't take credit cards?
Don't think so.
It would be the best solution. Most people carry a credit / debit card on them these days, it doesn't matter about currency then.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Pleydell »

I agree but with it being Ireland it would never happen.
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MDTyKe
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by MDTyKe »

In the same instance, Newry could equally refuse to take Euro, as everywhere else in NI.

And in regards to cards, if it was a simple swipe and go, yes. But if you have to stop, wait, enter PIN, wait, get receipt.. its going to be crazy.
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Re: Toll costs across Europe

Post by Pleydell »

In the same instance, Newry could equally refuse to take Euro, as everywhere else in NI.
They could, and it certainly would never bother me. :)
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