IT was not quite as momentous as the fall of the Berlin Wall, but it may have been the most hated barrier to fall since 1989. At midnight on Friday, the barricades on the M50’s Westlink toll bridge were raised, never to fall again.

No longer will drivers have to slow down and stop to fish out loose change. They will, of course, continue to be charged for crossing this bridge in west Dublin, with fees being levied through electronic tags or numberplate recognition.

At 12.04am, this reporter approached the toll gates first installed in 1990. Flashing signs and RTE Radio news bulletins informed me that “barrier-free tolling was now in operation”, but no immediate change was apparent.

Just two narrow lanes from the usual quota of five were open, and I slowed to 30kph for newly installed rumble strips. I had to slow further as the large truck in front of me braked and swerved to avoid going through the lane still confusingly marked “Eazy Pass only”.

Passing through the toll gate I braked again through habit but the barrier was up, the booth was empty and the road ahead was clear. The driver in the lane beside me had also slowed and was surprised to be confronted by RTE’s Will Goodbody and a camera crew looking to do an interview.

Toll-booth operators who had accepted the last coins at 11.59pm were celebrating, walking around with glasses of Baileys after their last shift ended.

A National Roads Authority (NRA) man in a high-visibility vest waved us through like a farmer encouraging hesitant sheep to leave a pen. With a little squeeze on the accelerator, I was through; the motley collection of coins remaining unused on my dashboard.

The actual tolling point for the M50’s 100,000 daily users is now a further kilometre north of the bridge, where two gantries fitted with sensors and cameras record passing cars. As an infrequent user of the M50, I had chosen the video account option, which will charge my credit card €2.50 for every trip.

At 8am we were back at the toll bridge as Noel Ahern, the minister for road safety, took down a larger-than-life barrier for photographers to launch barrier-free tolling. The cameras then snapped away merrily as the first car officially went through the barrier-free tolls. The minister said he had just registered for the tag option and expected to receive it in the post next week.

The introduction of barrier-free tolling was announced after the government agreed to buy the Westlink bridge from National Toll Roads (NTR) for €600m two years ago. Already the new system has been criticised by Fine Gael, the AA, the National Consumer Agency, business groups, car rental bodies and the Irish Road Haulage Association for being complicated and costly.

The new, high-tech tolling system will cost €25m to run each year. The majority of the €80m it will raise will help pay off the government’s debt to NTR between now and 2020.

Shane Ross, an independent senator, said the new system was a recipe for disaster. “The removal of the barrier should have been cause for celebration. Instead, we have higher tolls, an administrative mess and pending chaos”.

Ross said he won’t pay the €3 fee for unregistered cars in order to “test the system” to see what faces “innocent” motorists who use the M50 and don’t pay their toll by 8pm next day.

The NRA has admitted to “teething problems” with the new system. On Friday a glitch at its call centre meant users couldn’t activate tag accounts for three hours. Some retailers are also unhappy about administering the €3 for drivers without a commission charge.

Ahern dismissed the criticisms yesterday. “This will help with congestion. There will be a bit of confusion, but after a few weeks we will get used to the system,” he said. “From the motorists’ point of view they can drive through without any barrier. Any administrative problems can be resolved. ”

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