E-scooter ban on rail services comes into force

A ban on e-scooters on rail services across the South East has come into force.

Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express have banned the vehicles due to concerns over fire risk.

Southern Rail said the ban was due to the “limited regulation around the lithium-ion battery, which has the potential to cause harm should it malfunction”.

The ban includes e-scooters, e-skateboards, e-unicycles and hoverboards.

Steve Lewis, head of safety and environment at Southeastern, said: “Because it’s impossible for our colleagues at stations and on board our trains to check whether an e-scooter is safe or not, we have to think of everyone’s safety, and so we can’t allow them on our trains.

“It’s just not a risk we’re prepared to take.”

Customers will also not be allowed to store e-scooters in railway station storage facilities or take them on bus replacement services.

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