E-Scooters are banned from London public transport because of incidents with defective lithium-ion batteries led to fires.
E-scooters have been banned from all public transport in London from today. It comes amid fire safety concerns after one e-scooter caught fire on a Tube train.
The ban includes all e-scooters and e-unicycles, but does not include mobility scooters that are permitted on the network or foldable e-bikes.
It applies to all TfL services, including the Tube, buses, Overground, TfL Rail, Trams and DLR.
Transport for London said its review had found incidents with e-scooters had been caused by “defective lithium-ion batteries which ruptured without warning” and “led to fires that caused toxic smoke to be released”.
“TfL consider that if this were to happen again and fires occurred in an enclosed area like a Tube train or a bus, there could be significant harm to both customers and staff, as well as secondary injuries from customers trying to escape the area,” it said.
The move is backed by the London Fire Brigade, which confirmed an e-scooter caught fire on a train at Parsons Green underground station last month.
Firefighters have tackled more than 50 fires involving escooters and ebikes in #London this year, which is why we're supporting a @TfL ban of private escooters across the transport network. It will come into force on Monday over fears they are a fire risk https://t.co/FIZnpeUxK9 pic.twitter.com/KlRrzksCYF
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) December 10, 2021
