'Dangerous and illegal': Lime e-scooter dumped on train track

The person who put a Lime scooter on rail tracks in Dunedin was putting people in danger, KiwiRail says.

Images on social media yesterday showed a scooter sliced in two after being left on the railway line near Abbotsford.

KiwiRail South Island general manager operations Jeanine Benson said the scooter was hit by a shunt train on Sunday.

There was no damage to either the locomotive or the track, and services were not delayed; however it was both "dangerous and illegal to place objects on railway tracks'', Benson said.

"Trains cannot stop quickly or swerve to avoid people or objects on the track.

"As well as putting themselves at risk, people who place objects on the rail corridor also endanger our people and the public.''

A police spokeswoman said there was no record of a complaint being made - however, depending on the situation, police could investigate.

"A person could be found to have committed an act of 'endangering public safety' or similar.''

Lime scooters have been found in several other precarious positions since they were introduced on Thursday.

One was photographed in the Water of Leith outside the Forsyth Barr Stadium and another on the Northern Motorway late yesterday afternoon.

One was found partially submerged in Lindsay Creek, off North Rd, on Sunday and another was videoed being ridden on the Balclutha bridge, and was later seen parked in the main street of the town, about 80km south of Dunedin.

The scooters have a range of 48km on one charge.

A Lime spokeswoman said yesterday the company had "been in contact with KiwiRail ... and our operations team retrieved the scooter on Sunday''.

"While we are disappointed to hear of this incident, we want to highlight the majority of Dunedin riders respect our products because they love the service.''

Two change.org petitions have been started, one to ban Lime scooters from Dunedin, and another to keep them. The ban petition had 73 supporters last night and other 284.