A bill from the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs on an infrastructure company has been introduced in Alþingi (Parliament). It opens the way for possible tolls on all main routes to and from the capital area.
Reintroducing toll collection at the Hvalfjarðargöng, and new road tolls on Reykjanesbraut and Suðurlandsvegur, are being considered, in order to finance the infrastructure company that the government intends to establish.
This is stated in the explanatory notes to the bill from the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs that was distributed in Alþingi (Parliament) yesterday.
The infrastructure company is intended to bear the cost of developing major transport infrastructure, and Ölfusárbrú, Fljótagöng and Sundabraut are specifically mentioned in the explanatory notes to the bill.
It is assumed that, when the company is established, all share capital will be owned by Ríkissjóður (State Treasury), but the bill opens the way for investors to buy into it at a later stage. Ríkissjóður (State Treasury) would, however, always retain the controlling stake, either through a majority holding or a one-third holding with veto power. It is envisaged that professional investors with appropriate expertise could buy shares in the company, although they are not defined in any greater detail.
The bill contains authorisation to enable the infrastructure company to collect road tolls for the use of transport structures. The explanatory notes make it clear that this would not apply only to the structures that the infrastructure company builds, but also to structures that have already been built and are intended to be transferred into the company.
Several structures are mentioned there. It has been considered to place Vaðlaheiðargöng and Hornafjarðarfljót into the company, where road tolls are already being collected. The plan also assumes that the Hvalfjarðargöng will be transferred into the company and that toll collection there will begin again in 2028. At the same time, the doubling of the tunnel would be given priority, with construction beginning in 2030.
If that route were taken, the state would need to contribute ISK 27.000.000.000 to the company, whereas without toll collection the state would need to contribute ISK 75.000.000.000. The explanatory notes further state:
It is possible to consider more already built structures in this context, for example Reykjanesbraut and Suðurlandsvegur, and with such measures toll collection would be introduced on all the main routes to and from the capital area, which would involve a certain fairness as the burden would be distributed among road users regardless of where they lived or worked.
Source: Ruv.is
