Skip to main content

Mersey tunnels' Tattile toll upgrade

Existing DSRC tag system replaced with ANPR video tolling with Vega Basic cameras
By Adam Hill April 18, 2022 Read time: 1 min
The tunnels see 70,000 journeys per day (image credit: Tattile)

The toll tunnels under the Mersey River in Liverpool, UK, have received a pay-by-plate update.

Merseytravel has replaced the existing DSRC system, which was built on antennas and tags, with a modern video-tolling solution based on ANPR.

The new system, called T-Flow, introduced by tunnel operator Merseytravel, has seen 37 Tattile Vega Basic short-range automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras installed in the two tunnels.

There are 16 cameras on the Kingsway (Wallasey) and 21 on the Queensway (Birkenhead) tunnels which between them see more than 70,000 journeys per day.

The Vega Basic traffic monitoring cameras read vehicle number plates and activate the payment process if the plates are registered to an account.

Once payment has been approved, the barrier will rise - and new customers to the T-Flow system will be able to use it within 30 minutes of registering, says Merseytravel.

Related Content

  • April 25, 2013
    Upgrading Turkey's tolling system
    A programme modernising road tolling equipment on Turkey’s national highway network has resulted in what is arguably Europe’s most advanced toll system, reports Jon Masters. Turkey has introduced a new system of technology for charging for use of its 2000km national highway network, heralded as the first full-scale use of passive RFID tags for electronic open road tolling in Europe. The new ‘Fast Passing System’ (HGS) is an upgrade of Turkey’s existing Automatic Passing System (OGS) technology, which uses
  • November 6, 2014
    Lighting upgrade for Mersey tunnel
    Liverpool transport chiefs are planning a two-year US$14.3 million upgrade to lighting in one of the Mersey tunnels. The Kingsway Tunnel is the second longest road tunnel in the UK at a length of 1.6 miles per tube and is a major transport gateway for the Liverpool City Region, with 16 million vehicles passing through the tunnel each year, and is the only tunnel that can accommodate freight vehicles over 3.5Te GVW. The current lighting installation totals 3.2 miles and consists of over 1800 light fitting
  • April 25, 2013
    Widest bridge in the world Port Mann open in Vancouver
    Port Mann Bridge, designed to growing regional congestion and improve the movement of people, goods and transit throughout greater Vancouver, is now open for business. The widest bridge in the world, the Port Mann Bridge located in the metro Vancouver area, in British Columbia, Canada, features an Open Road Tolling (ORT) system, also called All Electronic Tolling (AET), which will ultimately cross all 10 lanes of traffic.
  • September 15, 2014
    Q-Free sees logic in video tolling
    Q-Free’s Frank Kjelsli talks to Colin Sowman about why video tolling could be the boost to efficiency and interoperability the industry is seeking. Like it or not, the principal of one person, one tolling account is likely to become a reality: be that in America with the 2016 interoperability deadline or the European EETS requirement. Multi-tag readers are being introduced and alliances are being formed to meet legislative requirements but as the debate continues about which systems and protocols to adopt,