Non-folding e-bikes are barred from Merseyrail trains, stations and cycle stores from 1 January. Folding e-bikes and pedal bikes are still allowed.
Wirral commuters who ride an e-bike to the station have three months to change their routine. From 1 January 2027, Merseyrail will start enforcing a ban on non-folding e-bikes across its whole network.
The ban covers trains, stations, station car parks and the operator’s secure cycle stores. That means a standard e-bike cannot be carried on a Wirral Line train. It also cannot be locked up in the cycle shelter at your local station (e-bike ban, Merseyrail).
Merseyrail first announced the ban on 14 July (Cycling UK). It has not changed course since. On 16 September it published an open letter saying the decision “was not taken lightly” and that “safety must always come first” (Merseyrail).
What is banned and what is not
Merseyrail’s own list of banned items is:
- non-folding e-bikes
- modified or adapted e-bikes
- e-bike conversion kits
- detached lithium-ion e-bike batteries carried separately
You can still travel with:
- standard pedal bikes
- folding e-bikes
- approved mobility scooters, and powered wheelchairs and mobility aids that meet the national size and weight limits
E-scooters have been banned on the network since 2023, and that does not change (Merseyrail questions and answers).
What counts as “modified”
Merseyrail says a modified e-bike is any bike whose battery has been changed from the one the manufacturer fitted. Its examples are:
- conversion kits
- non-standard batteries
- visible wiring
- oversized batteries
- damaged battery housing
It says staff cannot always tell whether an e-bike has been altered. That is its reason for banning all non-folding e-bikes rather than only modified ones.
Why folding e-bikes are exempt
Merseyrail says its safety review found folding e-bikes carry a lower risk. They can be folded and carried, so they are less likely to be knocked or damaged while boarding. Physical damage to a battery is a recognised cause of battery fires, it says.
The operator’s case rests on the tunnels. It says a battery fire in an underground station, a tunnel or a train could fill the space with smoke and toxic gas that would be hard to clear. Every Wirral Line train into Liverpool runs through the tunnel under the Mersey.
Merseyrail says the number of e-bikes brought onto its network “has significantly increased since 2024”. It has not published how many, or any record of e-bike fires on its trains. Cycling UK says Merseyrail refused to share the safety review with it.
What happens from 1 January
Until the end of December, Merseyrail says it will focus on explaining the ban. From 1 January, a passenger with a banned bike or item may:
- be refused entry to the network
- be asked to leave a train or station
- receive a penalty under the Railway Byelaws
The cycle store problem
This is the part most likely to catch Wirral riders out. Merseyrail runs 61 secure cycle shelters at 56 locations, with more than 2,000 spaces. They are free, covered by CCTV and opened with a fob (cycling to our stations, Merseyrail).
The ban applies to those shelters too. Merseyrail’s answer to “Can I leave a non-folding e-bike in a Merseyrail cycle store?” is a single word: no. So a rider who cycles to a Wirral station and leaves an e-bike in the shelter will need somewhere else to park it.
The pushback
The ban has met organised opposition. On 17 September, Cycling UK and the Merseyside Cycling Campaign led a ride from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s offices to Merseyrail’s head office. The Combined Authority’s Transport Committee was meeting at the time.
According to Cycling UK’s account, committee chair Steve Foulkes said Merseyrail was “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut”. Cycling UK says the committee then agreed to write to Merseyrail asking it to review the decision. We could not check this against the committee’s own record today: the Combined Authority’s meetings site did not load for us.
Cycling UK also carried the words of a Wirral resident, an amputee who uses Merseyrail to get into Liverpool: “If the ban goes ahead, I’ll be basically a prisoner on the Wirral.”
Merseyrail says it will talk to cycling groups “over the coming weeks”. It has not said it will review the ban.
What it means for you
- If you ride a standard e-bike to the station, plan now for somewhere else to park it from 1 January. Station cycle stores will not be an option.
- If you carry it on the train, a folding e-bike or a pedal bike is the only way to keep doing so on Merseyrail.
- If you use a mobility scooter or powered wheelchair, nothing changes, as long as it is within the national size and weight limits.
- Bikes are not taken on rail replacement buses, under Merseyrail’s standing bike policy. That already matters on Sunday 25 October and Sunday 1 November, when buses replace Wirral Line trains between Birkenhead North, Rock Ferry and Moorfields. See our roadworks and travel page.
- To object, Merseyrail’s page directs questions to its Customer Relations team.
For train times into Liverpool, see our Wirral trains guide.
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