Friday, June 26, 2026

Safety Message: e-rideables and Fire Risk

A faulty e-bike was responsible for a fire on a passenger train in Melbourne in 2025, and there have been several incidents overseas where e-rideables have caught fire and/or exploded while on passenger trains.

In 2025, ONRSR identified fires on passenger trains as a national sector safety theme for focus in its regulatory activity. For 2026-27, the risk (Fire/explosion on train or railway premises) is included in ONRSR’s Critical Risk Compliance Program. This program will involve proactive audits and inspections to test the effectiveness of rail transport operators’ systems and seek assurance they are managing so far as is reasonably practicable (SFAIRP) risks that have the potential to result in catastrophic consequences.

Last year ONRSR wrote to all mainline passenger operators across Australia requiring them to review the assessments and controls they have in place to manage the fire risk posed by e-rideables on trains and trams.

To complement this directive, ONRSR also commissioned research to understand how the safety risks are being managed by regulators and rail transport operators globally. This was done via a study of the experience in Canada, the United States of America, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, China and Singapore in late 2025.

The report identifies the different controls that international operators and regulators have put in place to respond to these risks and provides commentary on the relative cost and effectiveness of different measures. Globally, a wide range of approaches have been adopted with the majority being led by operators rather than being driven by regulators.

The research findings have been shared with the rail industry, having validated ONRSR’s decision to require operators to conduct robust assessments of the risks associated with e-rideables and their response plans.

ONRSR has also published the findings on its website and is now using them to raise awareness of the risk that e-rideables pose in a rail transport environment.

In its regulatory capacity ONRSR will work with operators to further clarify its expectations on the management of risks related to e-rideables, including how operational incidents are reported. ONRSR is continuing to make further enquiries locally and overseas, and is engaging with a range of stakeholders, including state governments as they continue to monitor the issue.

More broadly, rail transport operators are being encouraged to review the research and educational resources produced by ONRSR and internationally in relation to fire related risk management:

• Research report: E-mobility Devices on Rail – Jurisdictional Review
• ONRSR Safety Message: Emergency Management Plans
• ONRSR Safety Message: Lineside Fires
• ONRSR Safety Message: Fires in tunnels and underground stations
• ONRSR Safety Message: Fires on passenger rolling stock
• Australian Rail Safety Standards Organisation (ARISO) Webinar: Safety risks of lithium-ion battery powered rideables on passenger trains (June 2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgovBG_iMFI&feature=youtu.be
• Recommendations to Improve Passenger Railcar Safety During Electric Micromobility Device Fires | UL's FSRI – Fire Safety Research Institute

ONRSR will continue to share any information that assist the industry in identifying and managing the fire related rail safety risks generally and those associated with lithium-ion batteries specifically, including promoting the work and papers coordinated by ARISO.