About ERESS
The European Railway Energy Settlement System (ERESS) is a result of the cooperation between Jernbaneverket (Norwegian National Rail Administration), Banverket (Swedish National Rail Administration), Banedanmark (Rail Net Denmark), and since 2008 Infrabel (Belgian railway infrastructure).
The idea of creating a common settlement system was first presented in 1999 but it was not until 2004 that the three Nordic infrastructure managers decided to work together on the establishment of a common software system for settlement of energy supply to trains at first called NRESS (Nordic Railway Settlement System). In 2008 we expand our collaboration to include Infrabel and changed the name to ERESS (European Railway Settlement System).
A multilateral agreement was signed by the three project participants to govern the rights and duties of each participant. The partnership is a non- profit organisation. It is committed to continuous improvement and to integrate new members on equal terms with the original members. Fair and balanced division of both investment and operational costs is one the principles underlying the partnership.
The system is comprised of the following elements:
- advanced energy meters mounted on board trains
- an energy measurement system that collects and validates the metered data
- and a settlement system (ERESS) that performs the settlement, cost distribution, data exchange and billing.
Presently, ERESS is unique on the European market, being the only system that can provide such advanced services to railways.
The railway issues ERESS can solve
- Cross-border train traffic
- Changing energy price areas
- Train consumption, time and position connected to the relevant market price
- Exchanging energy consumption between infrastructure managers
- Compliance with the UIC leaflet "Exchange of data in connection with cross-border railway energy settlement"
- Introduction of new services like clearing systems and a clearing office
- Opportunities for train operators to realise data analysis for eco-driving and to conduct energy saving projects
- Reduce the number of contact points for cross border transport companies
- Developing equal basic tariffs and invoice rules
- Advanced use of profiles for non-metered consumption
- Consistent treatment of energy loss distribution and settlement
- Deadline for reporting energy consumption to customer and market
- Reducing the financial risks
The ERESS partnership strives to add value to rail services by improving the quality of data within the railways and by offering a straightforward energy settlement system for cross-border rail transport to improve interoperability.
The long term objective is to be the leading train settlement system in Europe.
A secondary goal is to make train consumption data that is currently subject to commercial confidentiality provisions accessible both for customers and for internal use.
Energy consumption information provided to the railway undertakings would offer opportunities for reducing energy consumption, adopting efficient eco-driving and thereby contribute to the environment and reduce costs.
The ERESS system also anticipates the future needs of train operators by facilitating the purchase of energy by individual train operating companies on the free market.
The members of the partnership encourage train operators to use energy more efficiently by helping with the supply and costs of installation of energy saving measures.
By using the system, the infrastructure owner fulfils the requirements for neutral and non-discriminatory operations, and thereby contributes to a competitive market between train operating companies.
The map above illustrates two examples of cross-border traffic handled by ERESS: one from Oslo (Norway) to Kronoberg (Sweden) and another from Gothenburg (Sweden) to Oslo (Norway)
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