Transport Minister Presents Truck Toll Contract

Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe on Wednesday presented transportation experts in Germany's parliament, the Bundesrat, with a 200-page contract for Germany's controversial new high-tech truck toll system. Traffic Committee Chairman Eduard Oswald said the contract would be closely scrutinized in order to determine whether penalties could be brought against the collective responsible for creating the defective system, which has been on hold since technical problems delayed its introduction earlier this year. The system has been designed and operated by the Toll Collect Consortium, owned by Deutsche Telekom, DaimlerChrysler and France's Cofiroute. The Transportation Ministry has said that from December, delays will cost the government €156 million a month in lost revenue, with the consortium facing penalties of €250,000 a day until the end of February, at which point the fine would go up to €500,000 per day.