Bad news for delivery bike riders who use trains to deliver food to people’s homes, as Transport for London ( TfL ) is banning all unfolded e-bikes from its services. The ban, which kicks in from next Monday (31st March) will apply to all TfL services and follows a number of alerts on trains and buses when cheap e-bike conversion kits catch fire. Recent e-bike fire at Sutton station (c) London Fire Brigade TfL says that while most e-bikes are safe, the main problem seems to be the use of cheap conversion kits. However, as there isn’t an easy way of quickly determining whether a bike is safe or not, they’re imposing a blanket ban on all non-folding e-bikes.
Folding e-bikes will still be allowed, as they tend to be purpose-built to higher standards. You could call it the Brompton Exemption, as nothing would outrage the sort of people who write angry letters than banning Brompton bikes from the tube.
There was also an issue that the transport unions were in dispute with TfL, with the unions calling for a ban and meetings, said to be tense, held last week on the matter.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The safety of Londoners is my top priority and, while most e-bikes are safe, there have been a small number of incidents where non-foldable e-bikes have caught fire on the transport system, which have caused me great concern.
“This is why, following a comprehensive review of the safety of e-bikes, TfL is banning […]
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