Drivers using Hong Kong’s Tai Lam Tunnel face 7% toll rise on average as operator bumps up prices for third straight year
- New charges take effect on October 8, with private cars and taxis paying toll of HK$58
- Drivers of medium goods vehicles face the steepest rise – 9.2 per cent or HK$6 more
Drivers using Hong Kong’s Tai Lam Tunnel will have to pay 7 per cent more on average in tolls starting next month, marking the third straight year of increases.
From October 8, private cars and taxis using the tunnel, which links Ting Kau and Yuen Long in the northwestern New Territories, will have to pay HK$58 (US$7.41), a HK$3 increase from the current fee.
Drivers of medium goods vehicles face the steepest rise – 9.2 per cent or HK$6 more – to HK$71. Light goods van drivers will have to pay HK$5 more, bringing the toll to HK$64, while motorcyclists face an extra HK$2, to HK$28.
Private and public minibuses will be hit with a HK$9 increase, bringing the new rate to HK$126.
Tolls for double-decker buses will be raised by HK$16 to HK$213, and for single-deckers by HK$13 to HK$180.
Route 3 (CPS) Co Ltd, the tunnel’s private operator, said the average increase of 7 per cent was the result of a rise in operating costs and a fall in revenue.
“In recent years, the operating costs of Tai Lam Tunnel have been increasing due to rises in staff and other costs, while our revenues have seen a substantial decline,” the company said in a press release on Friday.