Two more train operators have banned e-scooters over fire fears – meaning they are now prohibited by a third of all rail firms.
TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast are concerned the vehicles’ lithium-ion batteries can emit toxic smoke.
The move means ten out of the 28 train operators refuse to carry private e-scooters, which are not permitted on public roads.
Iain Peacock, head of safety at TransPennine Express, said: ‘Most of these devices are not approved for use in the UK and the batteries are often unregulated.’
Mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs and e-bikes, which are built to higher standards, are exempt from the ruling.
TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast are concerned the vehicles’ lithium-ion batteries can emit toxic smoke
East Midlands Railway imposed a ban on December 19 after Northern, the second-largest operator in the UK, did on December 1.
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Those bans followed action by LNER, Lumo, Grand Central and Transport for Wales, as well as restrictions by Transport for London (TfL) and the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Anyone who flouts TfL’s rules faces a fine of up to £1,000. Gatwick Express, Great Western Railway, Southeastern and Thameslink still permit the devices.
Recent casualties on the roads are piling pressure on the Government to take action, with more than a million privately-owned e-scooters used illegally.
A coroner’s report last week into the death of Fatima Abukar, a 14-year-old girl who suffered catastrophic head injuries when riding an e-scooter, pointed out that the rate of deaths on the road had doubled in the course of a year.
It said that the rate of enforcement had dwindled, and called for action to prevent future deaths.
Abukar was travelling at a speed of at least 11mph and not wearing any safety equipment when she fell beneath the wheels of a minibus.
The Metropolitan Police confiscated 4,000 scooters last year but only 1,100 this year after a change in policy was introduced in November 2021.
