A FAST Tag priority lane trial is set to be extended to the Birkenhead Tunnel next week.

Two priority lanes - one in each direction - were introduced at the Wallasey Tunnel for Fast Tag users at the start of February, with the majority of feedback from tunnel users proving to be positive.

The trial will be extended at the Birkenhead Tunnel from Tuesday, March 31. 

According to Merseytravel, the priority lanes appear to be making journeys more efficient with up to 700 drivers going through them an hour compared with up to 450 for the regular lanes.

Based on customer feedback there have been improvements as the trial has gone on, including changing the colour of the signage from green to yellow to make it more easily visible.

From Tuesday, three ‘Fast Tag only’ lanes will be introduced, one on exit and two on entrance.

The ‘fan’ shape of the plaza requires two Fast Tag lanes as cars approach from a number of directions – the A41, Borough Road and Conway Street.

The Fast Tag only lanes will be available 24/7, but during the trial they may be removed while officers get used to the impact on traffic and traffic flow.

Fast Tag users are also able to continue using the cash toll lanes during the trial, including both the auto and attended ones.

Cllr Gordon Friel, Merseytravel lead member for tunnels, ferries and visitor economy, said: “The aim of introducing a priority lane was to see if it would improve our service for Fast Tag users and it's great to see that the data and feedback received so far has been positive, allowing us to extend the trial into the Queensway Tunnel.

“Fast Tag offers a great saving on the normal toll price and we would encourage anyone who is a regular tunnel user to register for one and take advantage of the savings it presents.”

Merseytravel encourages regular users of the tunnels to get a Fast Tag – an electronic pre-payment system which motorists can pay by monthly direct debit and top-up when needed – with users able to save 30p per journey and avoiding the need to keep change on them.

In excess of 40% of journeys are currently made using a Fast Tag with the highest concentration of users from Wirral and Liverpool, meaning it effectively also acts as a local discount.