The French do NOT own...

[mygoldfishbowl]

... the Dartford crossing. Can we please put this urban myth to rest.

Every time a conversation comes up with anything to do with the crossing some bright spark will say something along the lines of, the worst part is it's owned by the French, no it isn't. The crossing has never been owned by the French, it is not presently owned by the French & there are no plans to sell it to the French.

It is owned by us & controlled by Connect plus on behalf of Highways England. Connect Plus also control the rest of the M25 & some surrounding roads, Connect Plus parent companies are Balfour Beatty, Atkins & Egis Road Operations UK.

More info about Connect Plus here.. http://www.connectplusservices.co.uk/about-us/what...

So please, the next time you overhear someone come out with this old chestnut tell them they are wrong and that the true information is freely available on the internet.

[mygoldfishbowl]

^^ Yes, that certainly hasn't helped although I think the initial misconception came from when the first consortium formed to run the crossing was called "Le Crossing" & did involve a French company alongside other companies.

[mygoldfishbowl]

andyalan10 said:

Why the sensitivity on the part of the OP when 5 minutes googling reveals that:-

"Egis is 75% owned by the French “Caisse des Dépôts” and 25% owned by Iosis Partenaires, (a “partner” executive and employee shareholding)."

With no information on the websites as to what proportion of the consortium Egis owns.

So the company that owns and operates the Dartford Crossing is partly owned by the French.

Andy

Please stop this madness & re-read the op. Connect Plus do not own it.. We own it & connect plus run it on behalf of Highways England..

[mygoldfishbowl]

MarshPhantom said:

But Sanef is a French firm, one way or another I'd say that means it's owned by the French.

Sanef is actually owned by the Spanish, but having a contract to install & maintain the toll system has no bearing on ownership.

[mygoldfishbowl]

CraigyMc said:

It's run by the French. https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/support/telepeage

Good grief man no it isn't read the links you quoted from my op, but even if it was run by the French that's not what the thread is about.

[mygoldfishbowl]

CraigyMc said:

Yeah, and if you bothered to read the link I posted, you'd see the dart charge toll in there. If you can post a link why can't I?

Also, the reason why people think that the toll is french owned is because it's French run. That's as relevant to the thread as it gets.

It is not French run.Sanef got the contract to install & maintain the toll system & nothing more. The crossing is run by Connect Plus which is not French.

Edited by mygoldfishbowl on Wednesday 18th January 07:54

[mygoldfishbowl]

mudster said:

Following Skanska pulling out, Atkins sold its stake in Connect Plus and is no longer a partner.

Very possibly. I only took my information from the Connect Plus web site.