Motorway service area
Encyclopedia
Moto Hospitality
Moto Hospitality is a company which operates 58 motorway service stations across the UK.Moto is owned by a consortium of shareholders including Australian Pension Funds and European and New Zealand Infrastructure Funds and is asset managed by Macquarie Investment Bank...
, Welcome Break
Welcome Break
Welcome Break is a company which operates thirty-five motorway service stations in the UK. It is the second largest motorway service area operator behind Moto.-History:...
and RoadChef
RoadChef
Roadchef is a company which operates twenty motorway service areas in the UK. Behind Moto and Welcome Break, it is the third largest motorway service area operator .-History:...
. Extra
Extra (service areas)
Extra MSA Services Ltd is a company which operates motorway service stations in the United Kingdom, as well as areas on primary routes. It is based on Castle Hill, Lincoln close to Lincoln Cathedral. It is also known as Extra MSA Forecourts Ltd....
are also developing a network of service areas. Only 20 motorway services in the UK remain in the ownership of the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
and let on 50-year leases to private operating companies. Some service stations also have hotels next to them offering motorists cheap overnight accommodation.
History
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
, which opened with the motorway on 2 November 1959. As more service stations opened, the number of operating companies increased, such as Blue Boar, Kenning Motor Group, Pavilion, Take a Break and Esso. Through acquisitions and mergers there are now only four major operators, which has led to concerns about these companies having a monopoly. In an attempt to break this monopoly, the government proposed allowing "mobile fast food vans" to operate at the areas, though this idea has not come about.
In 2007 an AA survey concluded that service areas had improved in the previous three years, but cleanliness and pricing were still major issues.
Opposition towards service areas has grown, with some planning applications being refused, notable examples include Catherine de Barnes on the M42
M42 motorway
The M42 motorway is a major road in England. The motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre and Tamworth on the way. The section between the M40 and M6 road forms...
and Kirby Hill on the A1(M)
A1(M) motorway
The A1 is a motorway in England that upgrades sections of the A1 road that connects London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
, both of which have recently had applications refused. Despite concerns from local residents, the most recent area to open was at Beaconsfield on the M40
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
, opening on 17 March 2009.
Locations
Initially service areas were located between junctions (on-line sites), having their own entry and exit slip roads with a different site for each direction of travel, though in recent years a shift has been to locate service areas at junction sites, the two most recent openings, WetherbyWetherby services
Wetherby Services is a major service station north of Wetherby on the A1. The service station fully opened in September 2008. The service station lies on the border between North and West Yorkshire in the north of England...
and Beaconsfield are examples of this, being located at A1(M) junction 46, and M40 junction 2 respectively.
The aerial picture of the Dutch motorway service area de Lucht (alongside) shows the typical layout of an MSA at a on-line site. Many British MSAs have a layout similar to this one though on a larger scale.
In 1992, the system was changed so that the developer became responsible for choosing the site of an MSA, and consequently junction sites immediately became the preferred option as they are cheaper to construct. Following a public consultation in 2007/8, the Department for Transport/Highways Agency announced that new services should be located at on-line sites, unless a junction site is the only possibility.
Pricing and regulations
Food sold at motorway services is notoriously expensive. This is often attributed to the fact that many regulations apply to the areas, which would not be viable to run while charging cheaper prices. Another factor may be that, unlike in other countries, the companies must pay the full cost of constructing the entry and exit slip roads and all other required features for safe access to motorway services, as well as the motorway services facility itself. In other countries, the authority responsible for the highway tends to subsidise these costs on the grounds that these areas are partly a public service to drivers. The leases provide that motorway services must operate 24 hours a day, and the costs of providing utilities and services are high. With very few customers in the early morning, they need to earn the money in other ways.Under the terms of the lease, motorway services must provide free short-term parking, free 24-hour toilet facilities and adequate provision for the sale of food and fuel 24 hours a day.
Services are prohibited from selling alcohol as this might encourage drink driving
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
. However many now have video game areas and gambling areas with fruit machines and other electronic devices.
Republic of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland has three motorway service areas – initially the National Roads AuthorityNational Roads Authority
The National Roads Authority is a state body in the Republic of Ireland, responsible for the national road network. The NRA was established as part of the Roads Act 1993 and commenced operations on 23 December 1993 in accordance with S.I. 407 of 1993.County councils remain responsible for local...
opposed them on the grounds that it preferred to see traffic using existing businesses in bypassed towns, and that the motorway network was not large enough for them anyway. However in 2006 it changed its mind, and the Roads Act 2007 makes provision for a Motorway Service Area Scheme to be made for proposed motorway service areas. The NRA held a competition to determine an operator for the first round of service areas to be opened. Superstop, a consortium consisting of Petrogas
Petrogas
Petrogas Limited is an Irish company that operates number of petrol stations in the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom.Company operates such brands as Applegreen and Discount Fuels, they also operate few statons under their own brand .Company is based in Park West in Dublin 12....
(Applegreen) and Tedcastles Oil Products
Tedcastles Oil Products
Tedcastles Oil Products Limited is an Irish petrol company founded in 1960 which trades under the brand name "TOP". Before a rebranding in 1998, the company traded as "Tedcastle's Oil"...
(TOP), won the contract. The first service area, Lusk services, opened on the M1 on 8 September 2010. Castlebellingham
Castlebellingham
Castlebellingham is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. The village has got a lot quieter since the construction of the new M1 motorway which bypasses the village...
services (also on the M1) opened on 29 September 2010, with Enfield services
Enfield services
Enfield services is a 24 Hour Motorway service station; that is located just off the M4 motorway between junctions 9 and 10. Enfield services opened shortly after Lusk services being one of the first Motorway Service Areas to open on Ireland's Motorway network...
opening shortly after in late 2010.
While other locations for service areas were planned by the NRA, they are unlikely to proceed in the short term due to the economic recession. "No services on motorway" signs have been erected on the M7
M7 motorway (Republic of Ireland)
The M7 motorway is a motorway in Ireland. The motorway runs continuously from the outskirts of Naas in County Kildare to Rossbrien on the outskirts of Limerick City. The M7 forms part of the Dublin to Limerick N7 national primary road. The section of the motorway bypassing Naas, an 8 km...
, M8, and M9. The NRA has stated that it now intends to erect signs to petrol stations off the motorway instead.
See also
- List of motorway service areas in the United Kingdom
- Moto HospitalityMoto HospitalityMoto Hospitality is a company which operates 58 motorway service stations across the UK.Moto is owned by a consortium of shareholders including Australian Pension Funds and European and New Zealand Infrastructure Funds and is asset managed by Macquarie Investment Bank...
- RoadChefRoadChefRoadchef is a company which operates twenty motorway service areas in the UK. Behind Moto and Welcome Break, it is the third largest motorway service area operator .-History:...
- Welcome BreakWelcome BreakWelcome Break is a company which operates thirty-five motorway service stations in the UK. It is the second largest motorway service area operator behind Moto.-History:...
- Extra (service areas)Extra (service areas)Extra MSA Services Ltd is a company which operates motorway service stations in the United Kingdom, as well as areas on primary routes. It is based on Castle Hill, Lincoln close to Lincoln Cathedral. It is also known as Extra MSA Forecourts Ltd....