By Steve Bargeton, political editor

JUBILANT MSPs yesterday welcomed the news that tolls on the Forth and Tay are to be scrapped on Monday, February 11, revealed in The Courier.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson yesterday signed the order he said will end “years of injustice” for the people of Fife and Tayside.

“We said when we came into power that we would bring an end to tolls on the Forth and Tay bridges, and less than nine months into government, that is exactly what we have done,” he said.

“Today marks the end of years of injustice for the people of Fife, Tayside and the Lothians, and I am delighted that in just a few days’ time travellers across the bridges will no longer have to pay tolls.

“There will now be equality on all bridges in Scotland and I am sure this announcement will be welcomed by people across the country.”

Central Fife SNP MSP Tricia Marwick, an ardent supporter of The Courier campaign to scrap the tolls, said, “Toll freedom day will be looked forward to by people across the Kingdom.

“Praise is due to the staff who for many years have worked with professionalism and courtesy on both the Forth and Tay bridges.

“The Courier’s campaign to end bridge tolls on the Forth and Tay has been a real success.

“I certainly plan on being one of the first to cross toll-free to Fife.”

Dundee West SNP MSP Joe FitzPatrick said, “This finally brings people in Dundee, Fife and Edinburgh on to equal footing with those on the west of Scotland who have been toll-free for several years.

“The staff on the bridges have been excellent and I would urge anyone crossing either bridge in these last few days to thank them for their efforts as we all look forward to a toll-free future.

“Congratulations to The Courier for keeping up its fight to see an end to bridge tolls.”

Scottish Tory Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Ted Brocklebank said, “It is a very welcome final step in a battle that some of us have been fighting for a very long time.

“Scottish Conservatives held the balance in this argument—had we been willing to sustain the tolls then I am certain Labour and the Liberal Democrats would have pushed ahead with their initial plans to keep the tolls.

“Finally we can look forward to driving across toll-free bridges all the way from Edinburgh to Dundee—starting from midnight on February 11th onwards.”

Labour’s transport spokesman Des McNulty said, “Labour supported the removal of bridge tolls from the Forth and Tay bridges but made it clear that the SNP government must manage congestion and find ways of minimising the emission consequences of toll removal.

“If, as the traffic models suggest, there are increased traffic queues or if the journey time for bridge users increases significantly the people of Fife, the Lothians and Tayside will quite rightly be angry.”

Lib Dem Dunfermline West MSP Jim Tolson has written to bus operator Stagecoach asking if fares will go down as a result of the abolition.

“The removal of tolls will save your company a considerable sum of money,” he wrote.

“I am writing to you to ask that this saving is passed on to the travelling public.”

A Stagecoach spokesman said, “Toll charges form a very small part of the basket of costs that are the basis of determining our fares on services using the Forth and Tay bridges.

“The modest saving resulting from the political decision to remove the tolls will be more than offset by the Scottish Government’s recent decision to freeze Bus Service Operators’ Grant, while operators in England have seen an increase.

“The decision to freeze BSOG will cost Scottish bus operators £7.5 million over 18 months.

“All of these factors will be taken into account when we set our fare levels for next year.”

Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said, “That fact that these bridges linking Dundee, Fife and the Lothians were the only remaining tolled bridges in the country was an unfair burden on local people and the economy.

“The priority now is to ensure that the plans to build a new Forth road bridge are progressed on time and on budget.”