M50 toll broken after man climbed gantry to cut wires

A man damaged equipment on the M50 toll gantry last night, forcing the motorway to be shut down for a time and resulting in the failure of the tolling system.

The man climbed the gantry and then cut wires and damaged cameras and sensory equipment over the northbound lane at around 9.30pm on Friday.

Emergency services were called and they temporarily closed the M50 while gardaí negotiated with the man who subsequently left the gantry and was then arrested.

The man is due in court on Saturday. It is understood the man damaged the tolling system as part of a protest.

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It is understood the tolling system on the northbound lane remains broken and most video account motorists are not being charged when they pass. It is unclear if drivers with a tag account are being charged as some of the tag sensors remain operational.

It is unclear if the tolling system on southbound lanes is fully operational.

Repair crews are on site working to fix the damage and it is unclear if the tolling mechanism will be fixed by Monday morning when traffic volumes on the orbital route increase significantly.

The combination of lost revenue and repairs to the damaged equipment is likely to see the incident cost State infrastructure body Transport Infrastructure Ireland a significant amount.

Security at the gantry is now being reviewed. It was designed to be difficult to access and it is understood this if the first time that the M50 cameras have been vandalised.

A spokesman for TII told The Irish Times the incident had placed the man involved and motorists on the M50 at the time in significant danger.

“We are currently conducting a detailed review of the incident”.