Prince of Wales Bridge (M4, formerly Second Severn Crossing)

The M4 crossing is free for every vehicle class that is allowed on a motorway. A car heading from England towards Newport owes nothing; the return trip towards England is free too. The same answer applies to a delivery van, coach, motorhome or articulated lorry. There is no charging period to avoid by travelling at night, and no difference between a weekday and a bank holiday. The former Severn toll was removed on 17 December 2018, not merely suspended for a trial.

Historic westbound charges describe the former scheme. National Highways now maintains the crossing as part of the motorway network.

There is no payment step at the bridge. Use the National Highways Severn Bridges page to check both motorway crossings in your direction. Read planned closures as well as the present status: a bridge could close before you arrive. The operator also publishes daily closures for work on the approaches.

Check again before departure because work can change at short notice. Follow live signs through any diversion. For help with bridge works, contact National Highways at info@nationalhighways.co.uk or 0300 123 5000.

A present-day drive over this bridge cannot produce a legitimate unpaid crossing charge because there is no charge to leave unpaid. There is no Severn bridge payment deadline, reduced penalty period, charge certificate or toll appeal process for current journeys. Do not enter your card details merely because a message says you missed a Severn bridge payment. Check the road name and the date on any notice: Dartford and other charged crossings have their own schemes, but they do not turn an M4 Severn journey into a payable trip.

Speed and lane restrictions still apply. If paperwork claims a recent M4 Severn toll, ask National Highways to identify the legal basis and crossing record. Keep the message rather than using an unverified payment link.

Before abolition, frequent travellers could use a Severn TAG for westbound trips. Highways England described Trip TAG top-ups and Season or Shared TAG plans. Direct debit accounts transferred when the bridges came into public ownership; online banking top-ups needed new payment details. These are historic account instructions.

The final tariff explains older claims that cars cost £5.60 and small goods vehicles £11.20. Those westbound charges ended with abolition. A Season or Shared TAG then reduced frequent travel costs. There is no present resident scheme to join and no reason to renew a TAG for this crossing. Ask National Highways directly about any unresolved historic account balance; its current bridge page publishes no refund process.

No application is needed. The last charging order priced motor cars and motor caravans, goods vehicles and buses, and listed no charge class for motorcycles; every one of them now crosses for £0. A Blue Badge is irrelevant to the present bridge charge: the crossing is free even without one. A visitor driving a foreign registered car also has no plate to register for this bridge. The same is true if your car is hired, leased or registered in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Free travel is a property of the crossing, not an exemption granted after an eligibility check.

Motorway rules still govern access. The Highway Code excludes motorcycles under 50 cc, provisional motorcycle licence holders, cyclists and pedestrians. A caravan adds no bridge charge, but its driver must obey any temporary lane instructions.

For an HGV over 7.5 tonnes, the M48 is normally not an available substitute. National Highways introduced a restriction there on 27 May 2025 because inspections found weakened main cables. It directs affected lorries to the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge and describes that detour as 14 miles. The operator currently says the restriction will remain until the end of January 2027 while a system to manage the spacing of heavy vehicles is prepared. That timetable may change, so check the live restriction page before dispatch.

The M48 exception list includes emergency vehicles, maintenance vehicles, buses, coaches and recovery vehicles responding to a callout on the bridge. Ordinary delivery lorries do not qualify. For planned overnight M4 closures, National Highways can allow heavy lorries over the M48 with controlled entry. During an unexpected M4 closure, affected HGVs follow the M5 and M50 route instead, approximately 100 miles. Use the signed arrangement in force on the day.

Opened 1996 (National Highways: 'opened in 1996') as the Second Severn Crossing; renamed Prince of Wales Bridge in 2018. Tolls (westbound only) reduced 8 January 2018 on transfer to Highways England (Cat 1 £5.60, Cat 2 £11.20, Cat 3 £16.70), then abolished 17 December 2018. National Highways is re-waterproofing and resurfacing a 1km stretch of the cable-stay bridge (contraflow 8 Aug to 18 Sep 2026 per its travel-updates page).

The two motorway bridges do not react to wind in the same way. National Highways says the Prince of Wales Bridge has barriers that reduce wind effects, while the older M48 bridge lacks them. When forecast gusts exceed 40 knots, stated as 46 mph, it closes the M48 and directs traffic onto the M4. When wind speeds exceed 70 knots, stated as 80 mph, both bridges close. The operator bases decisions on its own forecasts and monitoring equipment at the bridges, so a calmer reading in a nearby town cannot establish that a closure is unnecessary.

If both crossings shut, the signed route between England and Wales runs by the M5, M50, A40 and A449. Check each direction's live status and follow the signs. A high sided vehicle, caravan or motorcycle deserves particular care in gusts.

The bridge opened in 1996 as the Second Severn Crossing. It carried the M4 directly towards Newport and Cardiff, while the older crossing became the M48. The Severn Bridges Act 1992 provided for the new route and charging on both bridges. A commercial concession financed construction and addressed obligations for the existing bridge. Government accounts record its end on 7 January 2018; Highways England took over the next day.

A separate government order kept reduced westbound charges for part of 2018. The tariff table above shows the final prices. Legislation provided for a zero charge when vehicles were directed through the former toll areas and revoked the scheme at the end of December. National Highways still maintains the bridge, without billing each passing vehicle.

The name changed during the final charging year. A government announcement in April 2018 said that the Second Severn Crossing would become the Prince of Wales Bridge. Older route plans, invoices and travel reports may use either name for the same M4 structure. Do not confuse it with the original Severn Bridge on the M48, which also lost its toll but has different wind and weight constraints.