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You can cruise through that grimy, tiled tube from north to south (or south to north) without spending a single penny. There are no toll booths, no pay-by-phone signs, and no men with clipboards asking for your lunch money.
This makes the Blackwall Tunnel one of the last remaining free river crossings in East London. Compared to the Dartford Crossing (where you’ll pay a hefty fee just for the privilege of sitting in a queue), it feels like winning the lottery—except the prize is a 20-minute crawl behind a bus that’s leaking diesel fumes.
But Wait—There’s a Hidden Cost (and It’s Not Money)
While your bank balance stays intact, your sanity is another matter entirely. The real price of the Blackwall Tunnel is measured in minutes, tears, and oxygen.
Traffic in that two-lane nightmare can get so bad that you’ll start calculating your hourly wage versus the time spent stationary. I once sat inside the tunnel for so long that a family of pigeons living in the exhaust vents grew up, moved out, and sent me a postcard from their new life in Kent.
And let’s talk about the smell. It’s a unique, free-to-inhale cologne composed of brake dust, old tyres, and the broken dreams of every delivery driver who got stuck behind a lorry carrying three inches of clearance. Breathing it in is like putting your head inside a used vacuum cleaner bag—but you don’t have to pay for it!
Silvertown and Blackwall Tunnels Charge on PHVs - TFL SERU
