Lithium-ion battery fires
ARISO takes proactive steps to assess safety risks of lithium-ion battery fires on passenger trains
To maintain a consistent national safety framework while supporting the safe adoption of emerging technologies, ARISO is in the process of updating our suite of rolling stock fire safety standards, including AS 7529.1 Locomotive & Freight (released February 2026), AS 7529.3 Passenger, and AS 7529.4 Track Machines.
With the growing number and severity of e-bike and e-scooter fire incidents in Australia, passenger safety has come in sharper focus. Lithium-ion battery fires are bigger and more complex – a change in risk profile that is not adequately addressed by existing arrangements for fires from conventional sources on passenger trains. Existing standards for public transport could not have anticipated these emerging hazards, creating a gap for safety of passengers, crew and assets that needs be addressed.
It is a gap that ARISO is proactively managing with the updates to AS 7529.3 Passenger as well as by setting up an expert Fire and Life Safety group to analyse and understand the nature of lithium-ion battery fires, and to assess new challenges they’re likely to pose.
Key hazards of lithium-ion battery fires
Rapid fire growth rate: Internal faults can quickly escalate to thermal runaway. Even without an explosion, vented battery gases are highly flammable and ignite easily.
Much larger fires: e-rideables can produce far greater fire size and peak heat release rates than current Fire & Life Safety provisions anticipate.
Toxic gas release: Lithium-ion fires emit hazardous gases, notably HF, which is far more toxic per dose than CO, CO₂, or HCN from conventional fires.
Deflagration and Projectiles: Thermal runaway can cause cell rupture with jet flames and hot components becoming dangerous projectiles.
Suppression difficulty: Early fire growth leaves little response time, and standard firefighting equipment is often ineffective. Cascading between cells can be delayed, meaning fires may appear extinguished but ignite hours later.
Lithium-ion battery fires (e-Ridables) Technical Paper
| Lithium-ion batteries are now part of everyday passenger travel, powering phones, laptops, power banks, e-scooters and e-bikes. When larger batteries fail, particularly those used in e-ridables, they can behave very differently from conventional ignition sources or traditional passenger belongings.
They can ignite suddenly, release intense heat within seconds, emit toxic flammable gases, and resist extinguishing – leaving emergency services a reduced window of opportunity to react and respond to such fires. The eRidables Technical Paper is written by the Fire Life Safety group, a subgroup of the ARISO Safety and Operations Standing Committee. The paper examines the fire and life safety implications of lithium-ion battery fires on passenger trains, and why these fires challenge the current arrangements and hazard controls for passenger trains. Drawing on international research, recent transport incidents, and the emerging Australian context, the paper explores why e-ridable fires represent a step change in risk for rail operators, regulators, rolling stock designers, safety professionals, and emergency responders. |
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Next steps – Full-scale passenger train fire testing
ARISO is collaborating with The University of Queensland, Sydney Trains, CSIRO, Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) and members of the Fire Life Safety Working Group to facilitate full-scale fire testing using passenger rolling stock at Sydney Trains’ Chullora facility. The testing will address a critical evidence gap.
The program will generate real-world data on the behaviour of lithium-ion battery fire events in passenger train environments, including the development of conditions that may affect passenger evacuation, crew actions, and emergency response.
While the hazards associated with lithium-ion battery fires are increasingly understood, there is limited data available to support rail-specific risk assessments, operational planning, emergency procedures, and future policy development.
The results will provide an evidence base to help the rail industry better understand, manage, and respond to this emerging risk.
Webinar – Safety risks of lithium-ion battery powered ridables on passenger trains
ARISO held a MasterClass webinar in June 2026, presented by Fire Life Safety working group’s Klaus Clemens and Associate Professor David Lange to introduce the findings of the technical paper, discuss the emerging fire safety risks posed by eRidables and whether current fire safety processes are adequate to manage lithium-ion battery fires on board passenger trains.
| Klaus Clemens, Chair, ARISO Fire and Life Safety group – Klaus has 35 years’ experience as a consultant and executive manager. He has been actively involved at the program level of risk management as well as tender, design, construction and operations of transport infrastructure. |  |
| Associate Professor David Lange, School of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland (UQ) – Prior to joining UQ, Dr Lange worked in the UK and Sweden. He has developed fire safety strategies for laboratory and commercial facilities, and residential buildings; as well as conducted fire risk assessments and risk engineering projects in a range of industrial areas. |  |
This webinar recording is a must watch for transport operators, safety and risk managers, fire engineers, emergency services, rolling stock manufacturers, and regulatory bodies – learn more about this emerging hazard before it becomes a more frequent operational reality.
Watch webinar recording
ARISO Fire and Life Safety working group
The ARISO Fire and Life Safety (FLS) group is a multi‑agency rail safety forum focused on emerging lithium‑ion battery fire risks on passenger trains, particularly from e‑rideables such as e‑scooters and e‑bikes carried by passengers.
The group is addressing issues such as rapid fire growth, toxic gases, smoke toxicity, emergency response, operational impacts, and gaps in existing standards. It is coordinating a multi-year research program using retired passenger rolling stock to conduct realistic fire testing, with the intention of using the findings to support operators, regulators, manufacturers, emergency services, and the development of future ARISO standards and codes of practice.
FLS group members (as at July 2026)
Initiatives across industry
ARISO acknowledges initiatives across the rail and transport industry which, like us, have undertaken research and studies to understand the complexity of fire hazard associated lithium-ion battery powered e-mobility devices.
The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator’s recently released research report Research report: E-mobility Devices on Rail – Jurisdictional Review 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.
Collectively, the industry’s efforts will help us better prepare for the emerging hazards from lithium-ion battery fires.