E Scooter on Trains

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simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
Greater Anglia now have a rule of no E Scooters on trains, but E Bikes & mobility scooters are okay.
Something to do with safety, but as all three E vehicles have batteries, what am I missing here - ? :whistle:
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Usually dodgy batteries TBH.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
E scooters aren't legal to use so the odds of them having a safe and standard-compliant battery is zero.

EPACs are legal, and legal ones will almost all have better quality batteries and are a much safer bet.

Theres never a guarantee, but based on this I'd suggest they've drawn their linenin the sand at a fairly sensible position.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Greater Anglia now have a rule of no E Scooters on trains, but E Bikes & mobility scooters are okay.
Something to do with safety, but as all three E vehicles have batteries, what am I missing here - ? :whistle:
Are GA allowing e-bikes again now?

But as well as the general legality problems, e-scooter batteries are generally less protected from damage in use, with the battery in a vulnerable position, not inside a frame or rack or high off the road like most e-bikes. Some e-scooters even have the rider stood on the battery.
 

Jenkins

Legendary Member
Location
Felixstowe
Are GA allowing e-bikes again now?

But as well as the general legality problems, e-scooter batteries are generally less protected from damage in use, with the battery in a vulnerable position, not inside a frame or rack or high off the road like most e-bikes. Some e-scooters even have the rider stood on the battery.

E-bikes were among the items exempted from the ban - see the bottom of the press release from May 2023:
https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/abo...articles/greater-anglia-ban-e-scooters-1-june

I've seen a few home modified or downright illegal ones onboard that I'd like to have seen refused carriage when I've used GA in the past few years.
 
The problem that ebikes have is that there are a lot of "bikes powered by electric motors" around that have been cobbled together by someone in a shed
maybe from a kit - but the kits are of variable quality and a lot fo then will be the cheapest available

and allowing them has to be an " all or nothing" type thing because otherwise you are asking staff to make a judgement they are not qualified to do

whereas e-scooters are all illegal and therefore it is easier to justify that they are all banned

the idea of allowing folding ebikes is a decent dividing line - they pretty much have to be designed properly otherwise they wouldn;t work
and folding bikes are not "cool" so don;t attract the same people

it is annoying though - by Bosch powered Raleigh is classified along with something help together by gaffa tape

but until the enforcement gets sorted out better then I can;t really blame them
 

Drago

Legendary Member
and allowing them has to be an " all or nothing" type thing because otherwise you are asking staff to make a judgement they are not qualified to do

You do t need to be qualified to look for the compliance plate/decal. If it doesn't have one its not a legal EPAC, regardless of whether it otherwise comforms to the cut out limit, etc.

Regular, ie, non specialist, bobbies are taught to look for the compliance plate/decal without any specialist knowledge or training. All it takes is functioning eyes and an idea of what they look ljke and where theyre typically found. No qualifications required.
 

wiggydiggy

Legendary Member
You do t need to be qualified to look for the compliance plate/decal. If it doesn't have one its not a legal EPAC, regardless of whether it otherwise comforms to the cut out limit, etc.

Regular, ie, non specialist, bobbies are taught to look for the compliance plate/decal without any specialist knowledge or training. All it takes is functioning eyes and an idea of what they look ljke and where theyre typically found. No qualifications required.

True. I've booked a ferry recently and will have 2 eBikes. I'll be making sure the stickers are visible and because both are in neck breaking places upside down on the bottom of the down tube I'll take a couple of photos too. The ferry company actually doesn't restrict any electric vehicle from travel but does ban ones with damaged batteries - presumably that would include all the justeat/deliveroo/ubereats ones that are covered in 1000 rolls of tape lol.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
You do t need to be qualified to look for the compliance plate/decal. If it doesn't have one its not a legal EPAC, regardless of whether it otherwise comforms to the cut out limit, etc.

Regular, ie, non specialist, bobbies are taught to look for the compliance plate/decal without any specialist knowledge or training. All it takes is functioning eyes and an idea of what they look ljke and where theyre typically found. No qualifications required.
West Yorkshire Police's stance on them is "it has pedals it's legally a bicycle". They go too fast to attempt to stop them on foot, and cyclists don't have any insurance either.

The four I spoke to on Monday were completely unaware there were regulations covering EPAC's.
 
You do t need to be qualified to look for the compliance plate/decal. If it doesn't have one its not a legal EPAC, regardless of whether it otherwise comforms to the cut out limit, etc.

Regular, ie, non specialist, bobbies are taught to look for the compliance plate/decal without any specialist knowledge or training. All it takes is functioning eyes and an idea of what they look ljke and where theyre typically found. No qualifications required.

True - but you would need to get you understaffed train stations to stop and check every potential ebike

and I know that mine if on the bottom of the bracket which I could easily show by turning the bike over

but my previous bike had a similar sticker - and it could easily have had a dodgy battery stuffed into the battery holder and it would have worked fine
so the plate on the bottom would still be there but would prove nothing

but basically - it is about staffing and costs - it would costs too much to have the staff to check
 

Red17

Guru
Location
South London
and allowing them has to be an " all or nothing" type thing because otherwise you are asking staff to make a judgement they are not qualified to do
What often gets overlooked in debating this issue is that some disabled people do use e bikes or etrikes as mobility aids (I see this via a local disability cycling charity) and a blanket ban would catch these.

These bikes/trikes ( which are not garden shed lash ups) need to be catered for
 
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