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Date: 8/13/2025
Subject: Bike North - IMPORTANT - E-Bike Fiasco - Your Help Needed!- 13 August 2025
From: Bike North


13 august 2025 - supplement	Your Bike North NewsLETTER

UPDATE FROM TRANSPORT FOR NSW

Dear riders and advocates,

As you may have seen, the NSW Government is seeking public feedback on a proposed temporary ban of e-bikes, e-scooters, and other e-micromobility devices on train and metro services across NSW. This is in response to emerging fire safety risks associated with lithium-ion batteries.

The Have Your Say consultation is now open for three weeks. We invite you to share your feedback on the proposed temporary ban before it closes on Wednesday, 3 September 2025.

The consultation seeks to assess how the e-devices are used on rail and metro networks, how a temporary ban would impact passengers, and explore safe alternatives for their use on public transport.

Please note that the introduction of the temporary ban will depend on the outcome of the consultation. Any decision to implement a temporary ban, along with the timeframe for its commencement, will be communicated in advance.

We understand that if implemented, this may affect many riders and have broader implications across industries. This proposal is a precautionary step to address the risks posed by certain lithium-ion batteries, particularly those of lower quality, in enclosed public transport environments.

To learn more about the changes proposed under the temporary ban, and provide your feedback, please visit: Have Your Say – E-Micromobility on Public Transport. We also encourage you to share this link with your members or through your channels so they can comment on the proposal.

NSW government 'not ruling out' banning e-bikes on public transport

https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-not-ruling-out-a-ban-on-erideables-on-public-transport/9155ffb5-6981-4b30-b6e8-7b78329ec479

Did you see this story (or similar stories) in the media recently?

In mid-July, Bicycle NSW was informed through its members and on social media that e-bikes were being restricted on NSW trains. Notification signage had been placed on a number of train platforms (prematurely as it turned out!).

The current proposal to ban e-bikes (and scooters) on public transport, to safeguard the public from exposure to exploding batteries, is well intentioned but misdirected.

Bicycle NSW quickly and strongly requested that the government ensure that a public consultation is undertaken and that it is clearly a temporary ban with a short timeline. BNSW has been able to achieve both of these changes which is one step in the right direction. This will likely mean that the original date of 1st September won't be achievable. Next steps will be consultation and conveying to government the impacts, alternatives and solutions which BNSW is now focusing on.

You can get the latest update from BNSW here: https://bicyclensw.org.au/pushing-back-e-bike-ban-on-nsw-trains/

As a member of Bike North, you can also help!

We need to make our Members of Parliament aware of the inappropriateness (to put it mildly) of this idea. Please write!

And you can help do that by writing a letter to your state MP. Individual letters (rather than standardised form letters) have the most impact. We have put together some ideas below to get you started.

Many Bike North members have been taking their e-bikes on trains - SAFELY - for years! Help them and others to continue to enjoy the joy of cycling by putting pen to paper and opposing this government proposal.

Tom Rubin

Secretary

secretary@bikenorth.org.au

HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY

1. Complete the SURVEY now available here by Wednesday 3 September 2025: https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/changes-using-e-micromobility-public-transport

2. WRITE to your state MP
Find your MP here: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/pages/all-members.aspx?house=LA

3. WRITE to the Minister for Transport directly via the following online web form:

https://www.nsw.gov.au/nsw-government/ministers/minister-for-transport-arts-music-and-night-time-economy

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

The remote, but potential, problem of batteries exploding when not being used and not being charged presumably only exists with poorly manufactured/designed "cheap" imported batteries
Reputable and well-established battery brands such as Bosch, etc. are less likely to have issues
The same battery is frequently used across many bike brands and models
It should therefore be reasonably practicable to test and certify all major reputable battery models and list these on a central government website
Reputable bike shops could then be “licensed” to issue “safe battery” labels showing the id number of the battery model listed on the government website and the name of the bike shop issuing the licence (a small government fixed fee could be charged by the shop)
When this system has been established and after a specific date all bikes would be required to have a “safe battery” label clearly displayed on their battery to be permitted on public transport.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Older and less confident riders frequently use trains to get to safe areas to ride near bike paths
Other frequent users are the food delivery riders at the start or end of their shift to get from their less affluent home base to the more affluent area where they work – the proposed ban would appear to be particularly discriminatory against this poorer section of our community.
E-bikes are much heavier and more cumbersome than road bikes and cannot fit in the average car or uber (trains are therefore the ideal method of transporting)
Some vehicles can be fitted with tow bars and expensive special e-bike platforms but:

This is an expensive exercise
Many women andolder people cannot lift a bike on to one of these platforms
The platforms have to be removed and stored when a car is parked in the street (it is currently illegal to leave them attached on a parked car) – effectively preventing their legal use for transportingone or more e-bikes to a safer place to ride.

Until the new ramp is completed many users are not strong enough to push their e-bike up the steep ramp to the Harbour Bridge or control their bike on descent and are therefore reliant on the train to cross the harbour.

One Cyclist's Letter ...

I am a retiree who depends on his e-bike for basic transport, shopping, visits to the doctor and hospital etc. I also cycle for exercise, pleasure and socialisation.

I average 8,000 km a year mainly around Sydney and this exercise has been an essential element of reversing my cancer from Grade 3 to Grade 1 without medical treatment (cycling has replaced car use).

I have also substantially reduced my ecological footprint (I recharge my bike using solar connected to a home battery). I have thereby contributed to reducing congestion, road damage, parking issues and pollution.

I do often take my bike on the train to get somewhere to meet with friends coming from all over Sydney for a small group ride (mainly on bike paths, etc.) and we often finish up at a different train station from the one where we started.

All this social activity (vital in old age) would be prevented for all of us by the proposed ban.

But I also want to mention the role of the train acting as an insurance policy where one has no intention of using the train on a ride (such as when I cycle from ……. to ……… Hospital for regular scans and consultations at …….. Hospital Cancer Clinic).

At present I have the comfort of knowing that I can, if necessary, stop cycling and catch the train to hospital or home to get me out of a problem such as:

Sudden bad weather
A puncture or other mechanical issue
Inadequate battery power remaining
Unexpected sickness

Without this insurance policy I am effectively unable to use the e-bike for any journey further than e-bike pushing distance from my home and I will have to revert to using a car with all the consequent poor outcomes for pollution, global warming, congestion, road funding and my personal health.

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