Hello and welcome to another round-up of all the crazy goings-on in the world of e-bikes. This week, we’ve got big (and disappointing) news from Liverpool’s rail network, a solution to Lime parking woes from Melbourne, yet another reason to avoid New Jersey, and more…
Merseyrail to ban ALL non-folding e-bikes
Liverpudlian rail operator Merseyrail has announced a strict ban on all non-folding e-bikes. Set to come into effect on 1 January 2027, the ban will cover all non-folding e-bikes, including ones that have been adapted or modified, conversion kits (such as Swytch), and loose lithium-ion batteries. It won’t just apply to Merseyrail carriages: the ban will cover stations, car parks, and cycle storage.
Merseyrail decided to implement the ban after it conducted a safety review on lithium-ion battery fires and concluded the danger outweighed the potential benefits of active travel.
“While fires involving e-bikes are rare, they can happen very quickly and with little warning”, Merseyrail says on its website.
“In railway environments, particularly stations, tunnels and trains, the consequences of a battery fire could have serious consequences.”
Almost all train operators in the UK have banned e-scooters, but Merseyrail is the first to implement a blanket ban on most e-bikes. Northern, LNER, and Great Western Railway allow road-legal, factory-built e-bikes, but won’t allow sketchy DIY conversion kits. TfL allows non-folding e-bikes on surface-running underground lines during off-peak hours, but its partial ban was still labelled “a massive set-back for active travel” when it was introduced across London’s transport network in March of last year.
Is this health and safety gone mad? Or totally reasonable given the huge risk a thermal runaway incident presents in a narrow metal tube hundreds of feet under the ground? And another reason for safer batteries and better regulation of e-bikes?
Melbourne dumps Lime citing poor parking
Melbourne’s Yarra City Council ended its deal with hire e-bike provider Lime after citing issues with poor parking. The decision to terminate the contract comes at the end of a six-year trial for the e-bike scheme, during which an average of 201 trips were recorded per day.
“We’re getting too many e-bikes just dumped on our streets,” Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly told ABC Radio Melbourne. “That’s a cost to council as we have to clean up; the company doesn’t do it… If I had a dollar for every photograph I’ve been sent from a resident of a dumped bike, I’d be richer than I am right now.”
ABC reports that council officers had responded to about 100 complaints made about e-bikes during the six-year trial.
Segway Myon update adds auto-shifting
Segway has announced a complimentary electronic auto shifting update for its Myon e-bike. The over-the-air update, which was released on Monday, helps riders maintain the ideal cadence, choose the correct starting gear, and automatically adapts to climbs or heavier loads. Manual Shift Mode for the nine-speed Shimano Cues drivetrain can still be accessed when required.
The Myon will also be discounted by $200 for a limited time, and the company also uncapped an absurd 43 MPH top speed for its Xyber e-pedelec. Still no word on when – or if – Segway’s high-tech e-bike will be available in Blighty, but we’ve been promised they’ll be in touch.
Why bike licensing is stupid, reason #4,837
News site nj.com has uncovered yet another reason why New Jersey’s incoming e-bike laws are a terrible idea: unlicensed e-bikers taking a break in the Garden State will have to visit the Motor Vehicle Commission before they’re allowed to ride.
”Planning a trip to New Jersey with your e-bike? Here’s what you need to know!” the state’s new e-bike webpage reads. “Riders must be at least 15 years old and have a valid license. If you’re bringing your own e-bike, just remember to register it with the Motor Vehicle Commission.”
“This is a surprise for a lot of people coming from out-of-state to vacation in New Jersey at the Shore,” Debra Kagan, New Jersey Bike Walk Coalition president, told nj.com. “The message is if you’ve got an e-bike, you might want not to come to New Jersey.”
9 thoughts on “Merseyrail to ban all non-folding e-bikes citing safety risks — plus NJ e-bike licensing continues to confound, Lime gets dumped down under + more”
The combined failure of the police, fire service, VOSA and trading standards to aggressively tackle illegal motorbike sales / use / conversions means that all legal eBikes are now banned.
If the problem is the “e” in the “ebike” then splitting your ban on “folding” is not really the way is it?
Merseyrail is really good and I have frequently used the £6.40 Daysaver from Southport to Chester to avoid the Death Roads around Liverpool for only double the cost of a single jump under the Mersey.
@chrisonabike It is if ‘safety’ is really just a fig leaf for reducing the number of bikes ‘taking up space’.
I can’t believe a rail authority would engage in such duplicity! No, it must be that they have made a careful study of all the models on the market place and the risks and benefits overall…
So, are road.cc just going to whinge about it or are they going to Do A Journalism and start firing off FoI requests to establish: what evidence was used in this review? who was consulted as part of the review? what criteria were used to assign relative risks? what specifically were the relative risk factors the review established for different items? was a direct comparison of risk made between folding and non-folding ebikes and on what basis were folding ebikes exempted? was a direct comparison of risk made between other devices powered by lithium batteries and ebikes and on what basis can ebikes be considered a fire risk but not laptops, phones, or other devices containing lithium batteries not be? etc etc.
Don’t just report their press release and shrug; investigate, interrogate, force them to reveal their justifications assuming they have any. You have access to contacts and resources we don’t, please start using them for more than just clickbait.
Edit: sod it I’ll do it myself.
Are you confusing road.cc with eg. Private Eye?
Apparently I was confusing them with journalists.
I agree but alas I think that definition has shifted over time in the direction of “reproduces press releases and stuff people have put out online” from eg. James Greenwood’s “I spent a night in a workhouse so you don’t have to”.
And of course in the old days it was also the journalists simply making it up, not just the PR folks…