TfL to ban private e-scooters and e-unicycles from its premises
Transport for London (TfL) has announced it will ban all privately-owned e-scooters and e-unicycles from its premises following safety concerns.
To be implemented from Monday, the ban will restrict passengers from boarding any service – including the Tube, buses and trams – if they are carrying an e-scooter or e-unicycle.
“Our primary concern is always for the safety of our customers and staff,” said Lilli Matson, TfL’s chief safety, health and environment officer. “Customers who try to bring them onto our network will be refused access to our stations and premises, and not be permitted to use any of our services.”
TfL’s decision followed a review into a series of incidents of privately owned e-scooters and unicycles catching fire while aboard of the TfL network. The enquiry found that the incidents were caused by defective lithium-ion batteries rupturing without warning.
“We have growing concerns about the safety of e-scooters due to the amount of fires we are seeing involving them, so we fully support TfL’s ban of private e-scooters on public transport,” London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Paul Jennings said.
“Fires are dangerous and terrifying wherever they happen, but a fire on the transport network has the potential to become very serious very quickly and involve hundreds of people, particularly on trains where evacuation may be challenging, so anything that can be done to mitigate that risk is a positive step.”