London introduces new £10 'T-charge' to cut vehicle pollution

Drivers of older, more polluting cars and vans will be hit with an extra £10 charge to drive in central London from 23 October 2017, the Mayor of London has confirmed. 

The new toxicity charge, known as T-charge, will affect both diesel and petrol cars with pre-Euro 4 engines, broadly those registered before 2005. It is designed to improve London's air quality, and will work alongside the existing £11.50 congestion charge during the same 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, window. The new levy is expected to affect up to 10,000 vehicles. 

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Confirming the fee, Sadiq Khan said: "It's staggering that we live in a city where the air is so toxic that many of our children are growing up with lung problems. If we don't make drastic changes now we won't be protecting the health of our families in the future. 

"That is why today, on the 14th anniversary of the start of the congestion charge, I've confirmed we are pressing ahead with the toughest emission standard of any major city, coming to our streets from 23 October."

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The mayor's plans to reduce pollution levels in the city also include expanding and expediting the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, as well as a faster roll-out of low-emissions double decker buses. 

Khan is proposing to introduce the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone a year earlier than planned in 2019, and extend it beyond central London from 2020 onwards to the North and South Circular. Cars, vans, lorries and buses which fail to meet the emissions criteria would be charged from £12.50 upwards.

Feasibility study planned for a diesel scrappage scheme

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone scheduled for next year is only one of the new Mayor’s planned measures to control pollution on London’s roads. He is also instructing Transport for London to look at the costs and implications of a scrappage scheme for the most polluting diesel vehicles, but stresses that any such measure would have to be introduced nationwide by the Government in Westminster. 

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In response to the announcements by Sadiq Khan, the AA’s head of road policy Paul Walters advised the Mayor not to jump to introduce a new charge on London motorists in 2017 rather than allowing people time to plan for the scheduled introduction of the ULEZ in 2020. He explained that the introducing the T-Charge over an extended area of the capital “will be a much bigger issue for many more London road users than if it had just been in a central area”.

Do you think the London T-Charge is a good idea? Will it be rolled out across other UK cities in the near future? Let us know in the comments section…