Eress welcomes Luxembourg’s CFL as its 9th EU partner

Eress is a non-profit, cost-sharing collaboration between railways in Europe, that are working together to standardise railway energy across Europe.

Today, Eress partnership consists of rail infrastructure managers in Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and now Luxembourg.

As a small railway country, Luxembourg cannot redevelop every technology, especially in the context of interoperability. Reliable and efficient solutions like Erex, operational since 2004, in countries like Belgium and Switzerland, make sense.

Eress Director, Dyre Martin Gulbrandsen, expressed his pleasure concerning the new partnership with CFL: “We are delighted that CFL has joined the Eress partnership. It shows how working together is more important than ever, both in terms of knowledge and cost-sharing.”

Saving money

Modern trains can produce power during braking. They can also save energy when parked or use less while moving. Erex provides accurate measurement of power consumption and power generation on trains anywhere in Europe. Thus, the train companies can save money by using energy efficiently while giving Europe a significant climate benefit.

EU requirements

As of July 2020, the EU requires all countries to have a solution for trains to be able to use this type of saving technology. This must be facilitated by member states. Erex IT system is the only system that is fully developed. When train companies are allowed to use Erex, they can save up to 30 per cent of their energy costs.

35 million households’ consumption

Trains are the means of transport that use the least of energy per passenger. Nevertheless, trains can become even more energy efficient. In Europe, trains use approximately 60 billion kilowatt-hours of power. Erex users can save between 15 and 30 per cent of power consumption, which means that Erex can help saving what 35 million European households would use on electricity.

With Erex, the train companies can see how much energy each train uses – and produces. Newer trains can deliver back energy to the grid, because of the way they drive and brake. There can be major differences in driving style among drivers.