Greater Anglia is to ban the carriage of e-scooters on all trains across its network, following concerns over potential risks to passenger safety. From Thursday 1 June, e-scooters will no longer be allowed on-board Greater Anglia trains because of the risk posed by the type of batteries that typically power the scooters. The operator is taking measures to ensure the safety of the railway and passengers, in line with action being taken by many other train operators. The ban is also being enforced on the same date by other train companies including South Eastern, Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and South Western Railway, with bans already in place on East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Railway, Chiltern, London North Eastern Railway, Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, Great Western Railway and Northern. Although there have been no safety incidents to date involving e-scooters on Greater Anglia services, Transport for London has also banned e-scooters following two incidents of privately-owned powered e-scooters catching fire on their network. Matt Wakefield, Greater Anglia’s Head of Safety, Security and Sustainability, said: “Safety of our passengers and staff is our number one priority, and we know that e-scooters have battery packs which vary greatly in quality. “The decision has therefore been made to ban these items from carriage on our network due to recent incidents elsewhere and the risks associated with them using faulty lithium batteries and catching fire.” This new policy covers e-scooters only. Mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs and e-bikes are exempt from the ban.
