Verified September 2026Independent guide

How much is the M6 Toll?

A car pays £12.00 for the full M6 Toll at the contactless rate, or £10.20 with a free Breeze account. Shorter 1 or 2-zone trips cost less, and other vehicle classes pay £5.90 to £20.90. This tariff took effect on 7 July 2026, up 40p from the previous £11.60 car rate. Below: every vehicle class, each junction pair and all the payment options, from an independent guide. No cash accepted.

Car, full route, contactless

£12.00

All 3 zones, no account

With a Breeze account

£10.20

ANPR billing, no stopping

Saving with Breeze

£1.80 per trip (about 15%)

How the Breeze account works →

Prices updated 7 July 2026

M6 Toll prices rose on 7 July 2026. The full-route car rate went from £11.60 to £12.00 contactless, and from £9.80 to £10.20 with a Breeze account.

These are the current rates, per the operator's pricing page (m6toll.co.uk). One-zone Breeze rates were unchanged. See the old-vs-new breakdown →

Length27 miles (43 km)M6 J3a to M6 J11a

Time saved (peak)30 to 45 minvs M6 through Birmingham

Open24 / 7 / 365Closes only for incidents

Plan your journey

Tap any two junctions to set your entry and exit. The route lights up across the M6 Toll, the zone count auto-calculates, and you see the toll cost plus rush-hour time saved versus the free M6.

Plan your M6 Toll journey

Click any two junctions to set your entry and exit, or pick a popular journey below.

Vehicle class

Payment

Toll cost

£12.00

3 zones · standard

Distance

27 mi

on M6 Toll

Time saved

45 min

vs free M6 at rush hour

Cost per minute saved

£0.27

your time’s call

With a Breeze account: £10.20 per trip (save £1.80). Commuter doing 10 trips/week = £864.00/year difference.

Entry: T1 Coleshill

Connects to M42 J9, A446.

Nearby: Coleshill, Birmingham (NEC, Airport)

Exit: T8 M6 J11a

Connects to M6 J11a.

Nearby: Stafford, Wolverhampton (north), Stoke-on-Trent

Standard contactless prices

Full price list →

The price you pay depends on how many of the three zones you travel through. A full M6 J3a to M6 J11a journey is 3 zones. Tap a contactless card at the barrier or set up an account for ANPR billing.

Vehicle	1 zone	2 zones	3 zones
Class 1 Motorcycle	£4.00	£4.90	£5.90
Class 2 Car	£6.90	£9.50	£12.00
Class 3 Car with trailer or caravan	£10.40	£14.10	£16.90
Class 4 Van, minibus, motorhome, 2-axle HGV or coach	£14.50	£17.30	£20.20
Class 5 HGV or coach, 3 to 6 axles	£15.70	£18.20	£20.90

What you need to know

Payment

Card only, no cash

Contactless cards, smartphones and Breeze or Lite accounts. Cash was abolished in May 2024.

Zones

Three zones, pay only what you use

Since May 2024 the M6 Toll uses zone pricing. ANPR works out exactly which zones you covered.

Worth it?

Rush hour yes, off peak usually no

Time saved varies hugely with the time of day. We track it scenario by scenario.

The route at a glance

Route map27 miles, 8 junctions, 3 zones

Zone 1

Zone 1 / 2 boundary

Zone 2

Zone 2 / 3 boundary

Zone 3

M6 J3a / ColeshillM6 J11a / Cannock

Zone 1: T1 to T3Zone 2: T3 to T6Zone 3: T6 to T8

See the full junction guide for which T-junction to use for your destination, or the zone breakdown if you are only making a partial journey.

Dive deeper

2026 cost by vehicle

What different vehicles actually pay on the M6 Toll. The car rate is the headline, but four other vehicle classes change the maths.

Car cost

£12.00 contactless, £10.20 Breeze

Motorbike cost

£5.90 contactless, £4.90 Breeze

Van cost

Class 2 or Class 4 explained

HGV cost

£20.20 to £20.90

Towing cost

Car-with-trailer is Class 3

Per-junction route cost

Partial journeys cost less. Pick the route closest to your trip.

T1 to T8 full route

£12.00 car, 27 miles

T1 to T3

£9.50 car, NEC to Tamworth

T1 to T6

£12.00 car, Coleshill to Norton Canes

T3 to T6

£9.50 car, Tamworth to Cannock

T3 to T8

£9.50 car, Tamworth to M6 J11a

T6 to T8

£6.90 car, 1-zone northern

T1 to T2

£6.90 car, 1-zone southern

Birmingham to Manchester

End-to-end cost with petrol

2026 cost reference

Straight answers to the 2026 cost and price-change questions people actually search.

Price increase: 7 July 2026

Car rose £11.60 to £12.00, old vs new

M6 Toll cost 2026

Full price tables, every class and zone

Breeze account

Cost, discount and how to open one

Contactless payment

Cards, Apple Pay, fuel cards

Missed payment

If you drove through without paying

Birmingham toll charge

M6 Toll vs Clean Air Zone

Planning a specific trip

Destination-specific guides for the most common reasons people pay the M6 Toll.

To Drayton Manor

T3 exit, family day-out routes

To Alton Towers

Full route £12.00, then M6 north

To Birmingham Airport

T1 + M42 J6, flight-day insurance

To the NEC

Event-day traffic bypass

To Stafford

Full route plus 13 miles free M6

From London

M40 / M42 corridor to the Midlands

M6 Toll vs free M6

Head-to-head specs and timing

Best time to use it

Hour-by-hour decision matrix

All UK toll roads

Dartford, Mersey, Tyne and others

More junction-pair routes

Every common T-pair has its own page with rates, distance and timing.

T1 to T4

NEC to Lichfield north

T2 to T4

Sutton to Lichfield north

T2 to T6

Sutton to Cannock

T2 to T8

Sutton to M6 J11a

T3 to T7

Tamworth to Churchbridge

T4 to T6

1-zone central

T4 to T8

Lichfield north to M6 J11a

T5 to T8

A5 corridor northbound

Common questions

How much does the M6 Toll cost for a car in 2026?

A standard car (Class 2) pays £12.00 for the full 3-zone route at the contactless rate. With a Breeze account the same journey is £10.20, a saving of £1.80 (about 15%). Shorter journeys cost less: 2 zones is £9.50 standard / £8.40 Breeze, 1 zone is £6.90 / £4.00. This tariff took effect on 7 July 2026, up from the previous £11.60 car rate.

What are the M6 Toll charges for all vehicle types in 2026?

Full-route (3-zone) charges from 7 July 2026, at the contactless rate: motorcycle (Class 1) £5.90, car (Class 2) £12.00, car towing a trailer or caravan (Class 3) £16.90, van, minibus, motorhome or 2-axle HGV or coach (Class 4) £20.20, and HGV or coach with 3 to 6 axles (Class 5) £20.90. Classes are set by axles and height at the front axle, not by weight. With a Breeze account each class pays less: £4.90, £10.20, £14.50, £17.60 and £18.20 respectively. Shorter 1 or 2-zone journeys cost less again. All prices include VAT and are reviewed quarterly by the operator.

Can you pay cash on the M6 Toll?

No. Cash was abolished in May 2024 when the zone-based system launched. You can pay by contactless card or device at the barrier, or set up a free Lite or Breeze account so the toll is taken automatically via ANPR with no stopping.

Is the M6 Toll open 24 hours?

Yes. The M6 Toll runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The only closures are for police incidents, scheduled maintenance overnight or extreme weather.

How much time does the M6 Toll save?

On a typical weekday rush hour the toll saves around 30 to 45 minutes versus the free M6 through Birmingham. Off peak the saving drops to 5 to 10 minutes when the M6 itself is flowing freely. Friday afternoons and bank holiday getaways see the biggest savings.

Is the M6 Toll free for motorcycles?

No. Motorcycles (Class 1) currently pay £5.90 for the full 3-zone route at the standard rate, or £4.90 with a Breeze account. Motorcycles travelled free in the early years of the road but have been charged for over a decade.

What happens if you don't pay the M6 Toll?

ANPR cameras capture every number plate. If no payment is registered, the operator raises a Payment Notice against the registration. You have 6 days from the trip being validated to pay the toll online at customers.m6toll.co.uk/payment-notice; after that, additional charges of at least £70 are added and unpaid notices go to a debt recovery agency. The M6 Toll does not issue council-style PCNs. See the penalties page for the full process.