DRIVERS using the Dartford Crossing at peak times are saving around an hour and a half every week thanks to Dart Charge, according to new figures.

Highways England says the latest figures show journeys over the crossing are up to 56% faster than before payment barriers were removed, with drivers at peak times saving up to 14 minutes southbound and seven minutes northbound.

Spread across the day, the average time savings are seven and a half minutes southbound and three and a half minutes northbound.

The improvements have been achieved despite traffic volumes at the Crossing growing by around 4%, with up to 157,000 crossings being made every day in July, around 20,000 over the Crossing’s design capacity.

Dart Charge project director Nigel Gray said: “Relieving congestion and speeding up journeys at the Dartford Crossing is what Dart Charge is all about.

“These really encouraging figures show what a difference Dart Charge is making for drivers. Drivers commuting from Essex in to Kent are saving around 20 minutes a day, and others commuting from Kent to Essex are saving more than 15 minutes a day.

“We still have more work to do, working with partners to ensure that all the approaches to the tunnels in Kent are working as well as they possibly can.

“But I hope that these figures will reassure people that the improvements are real and that Dart Charge is working.”

Dart Charge launched last November to speed up journeys at the Dartford Crossing and give drivers more flexibility about how and when they pay the crossing charge.

Instead of paying at the barriers, drivers now pay online, by phone or by post in advance or up to midnight on the day after you have used the crossing.

Today’s figures come as new time-lapse footage showing the transformation of the crossing has been released.