Can You Take an Electric Scooter On A Train?
Can you bring an electric scooter on a train? Or perhaps the better question is, are electric scooters allowed on the train? You may be asking this because perhaps your scooter cannot conveniently cover your whole journey. It is true that most of the e-scooters including the mobility scooters can hardly cover beyond 30 miles; though they are those that can cover up to 50 miles in a single charge.
So, can you take an electric scooter on a train? If your scooter is foldable, for most countries, you will have no issue at all. You ought to know, however, that different states/countries have varying policies and regulations concerning an electric scooter. You should, nonetheless, check the rules regarding scooters and trains in your country or state.
Make sure you obey the rules. Prohibiting the electric and mobility scooter is not just a matter of not inconveniencing other passengers. It is a matter of safety as well though we shall get to this in a section below.
Why are electric scooters favored?
Electric scooters are very convenient when covering the distance between your home and school, work, and shopping. They are cheaper than a taxi and you can use them for recreation purposes.
Besides, e-scooters are environmentally friendly because they have no emissions. Besides, you will never get caught in traffic. The only thing that matches its many advantages is its inability to cover a long distance. Nonetheless, there are ways you can extend the lifespan of your batteries. You can also charge your e-scooter without a charge! How wonderful is that?
How about motorized scooters? Can you bring them on the train?
Southeast Queensland trains service and motorized scooters
According to an article on queenslandrail.com, motorized scooters are permitted in the SEQ trains service. You can bring your motorized scooter with you on the train all the time whether it is a public holiday, weekends, or workdays. This is also including the Segway electric scooter.
However, there are times when this is not possible for safety due to the high number of passengers during peak hours. Besides, there is a very high passenger capacity during peak hours.
What this means is that if you wish to come with your motorized scooter on the train, it should be earlier than 7.00 am but later than 9.00 am. It has to be earlier than 3.00 pm and later than 6.30 pm.
According to that website, we also found out that the Queensland Rail property does not allow you to use a motorized scooter on the property. By property, they mean inside the train, in the station, in the subway, level crossing, or on the ramp.
So, as a customer, you must have your motorized scooter secure and stationary when you are on their property. Additionally, you do not expect any aid from the staff when you are securing your motorized.
You should note that if the staff ever found you using a motorized scooter during the busy peak hours, you will be required to leave the train.
When it comes to other normal e-scooters, only small size scooters are allowed. It is easier for you if you have a foldable one. It helps take the smallest space on the train. Besides, it will become easier to carry it allowed.
Can you take an electric scooter on a train in London?
In London, you will not be allowed to
Why are electric scooters prohibited in some trains?
The trains that prohibit electric scooters and mobility scooters have a good reason to do so. It could be that the gap between the station and the train platform is very long and cannot handle the mobility or electric scooter. Another reason is that mobility scooters and other large scooters are very heavy. This means that you might need help from the staff. Most of the staff on the train are always occupied.
Additionally, during the busy peak hours, there are a lot of people on the train. When there are many people, it would be greatly difficult to move your mobility in and out of the train. It may end up taking a lot of precious time to bring it in or out. All modern Mobility scooters and upper-tier electric scooters are physically heavy even for the precious train.
These are reasonable grounds for prohibiting your mobility scooters or electric scooters in their trains. The reasons could mainly be profit or safety of other passengers on board.
Size and weight limit
While some of the common trains may prohibit you from having your e-scooter on the trains because of other reasons, there are those that may be because of the weight. While trains are sensibly designed to handle a lot of weight, there is a limit.
Most of the train service companies have the limit set to 300 kg. Additionally, the scooter has to be not more than 1.2 m long. In some instances, a permit from the train’s services may be required. Their large size makes it very difficult to use such electric and motorized scooters manually.
Battery and safety
To cub with the limited range that electric scooters and mobility scooters cover, manufacturers are inevitably going for batteries with larger capacity. This has not been their only move. One is the use of lithium-ion batteries. This type of battery, for your information, uses electrolyte that is flammable. Besides, the cells fail which results in short-circuiting. They then explode. Do you see how disastrous this could be on a very crowded train? In the worst-case scenario, people could die. The train services could inescapably be derailed. This is also the reason why you cannot take some electric and mobility scooters with you on a plane.
Reference
Travelling with large items. (2015, January 14). Retrieved from https://www.queenslandrail.com.au/forcustomers/plan/travelling-with-large-items