Non-folding e-bikes are to be banned on Merseyrail trains from 1st January 2027.
The ban follows a detailed safety review, with the move being introduced for the safety of passengers and colleagues, as well as the railway infrastructure and trains.
Although fires involving e-bikes are rare, when they do happen, they are generally accompanied by little warning and occur very quickly.
If a fire broke out on the railway, especially at stations, in tunnels and on trains, the consequences would potentially be catastrophic, with serious consequences.
The safety review showed the challenges involved when responding to a fire caused by a lithium-ion battery, which has prompted the ban, and follows a similar ban on E-scooters, which came into force on the Merseyrail network in 2023.
From the commencement of this ban, the following items will not be allowed anywhere on the Merseyrail network:
- Non-folding e-bikes;
- Modified or adapted e-bikes;
- E-bike conversion kits;
- Lithium-ion e-bike batteries that have been detached and are being carried separately
The ban will apply on board all Merseyrail trains and at all stations on the Merseyrail network, including station buildings, car parks, and cycle storage facilities. Not covered by the ban are standard pedal bicycles, folding e-bikes, approved mobility scooters, and powered wheelchairs that comply with national standards.
From 1st January 2027, anyone travelling with a banned item may be refused access to Merseyrail trains or stations, asked to leave a train or station, or face enforcement under Railway Byelaws. Similar action is being enforced by other transport operators, including Transport for London (TfL).
Before the ban comes into force, Merseyrail will concentrate on education and awareness enforcement, and will work with educational establishments to make sure the new regulations are fully understood by everyone using the network.
Merseyrail’s contract to run train services in the Liverpool City Region expires in 2028, and a report being submitted to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority recommends that the network should then revert to public ownership. In a recent survey, 92 per cent of Merseyrail passengers said they were satisfied with their journeys, one of the highest of all train operators.
“Keeping our passengers and colleagues safe is our number one priority. Like many transport operators across the country, we’ve been looking closely at the growing number of incidents involving lithium-ion batteries. While these incidents remain rare, the risk they pose in a railway environment, particularly one running underground trains, means we can’t ignore them. We’ve taken this decision following a detailed safety review and because we believe it is the right thing to do to help prevent a serious incident before it happens.”
Neil Grabham, Managing Director, Merseyrail
Responses
Makes me laugh that it appears that folding ebikes will be exempt from this ban. Who decided that just because an ebike is foldable, makes it safe, when in reality, they use the same battery technology as a non folding ebike. In reality, they are probably more prone to failure because the cables that run between the motor, battery and controls on the handlebars get bent backwards and forwards each time the bike is folded and unfolded.
Erm, did anyone do the risk assessment about the absolutely massive battery bank that powers the new “battery powered” trains? 🤔🤷
So to summarise, you won’t be able to take a battery powered bicycle on a battery powered train.
I get it that there are some dodgy homebrew ebikes out there, but a huge percentage of ebikes are built around systems manufactured by Shimano, DJI, Bosch etc which are top quality and safe systems. So as usual the majority of safe quality ebike owners get penalised because of the few that aren’t.
You took the words right out of my mouth. Seems to be very odd decision making, as you rightly say, what makes a folding ebike OK when they are inherently more likely to have wire faults.
After consulting AI, the reason boils down to safety of DIY modified bike converting kits due to a fire that broke out on a TfL train. Unions demanded action and the workaround was using folding e-bikes as a proxy rule. The logic is that standard, commercial folding e-bikes are almost exclusively manufactured by major brands with integrated, factory-tested batteries. This would also explain that apparently you will not have to fold your folding e-bike prior to boarding. I’m lucky, as in I have a folding e-bike that I use regularly on Merseyrail. I feel for the passengers that have spent so much money on their bike, only for them not to be able to use it as part of their commute.