Eress Provides Stability in Uncertain Times
The war in Ukraine continues, our world faces continuing uncertainty even after the worst of COVID and energy prices surge. At times they have been almost ten times what they were, significantly impacting train companies with regulated ticket prices. This explains why the need for energy savings increases with escalating prices as the drive for sustainability intensifies. Eress continues to provide accurate data, making it possible to control and save energy
The expansion of Eress Partnership
Historically, borders between countries have been barriers to ground travel. With its Erex 2.0 system, Eress makes cross-border railway traffic more efficient for train companies. In 2022, Portugal joined the Eress family as a test partner. The testing continues to look promising as Portugal’s highly skilled team implements the solution. Cross-border collaboration becomes much easier for Portugal since Spain also uses the Erex system. The Infrastruturas de Portugal and Eress teams have managed the test period almost entirely virtually.
The new steering group of Eress in 2023
With a strong, stable foundation of organisation, the Steering Group leads Eress as we move into the future. During the last year new representatives from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and Norway have joined the Eress Steering Group. This means five of the nine are bringing a new force into the partnership. “Every new member joins with specific experience and unique perspectives. Each one challenges us to improve in different ways. I have been here since the beginning, so I always look forward to exchanging ideas with new members to see how we can improve,” continues Gulbrandsen.
"The bigger the ship, the slower it turns. Based on the scale of the railway sector in Europe, the move towards greater ustainability is progressing with unprecedented speed. We’re pleased with the significant progress made in 16 years at Eress.
Director of Eress, Dyre Martin Gulbrandsen
Improvements in the Eress IT system (EREX 2.0)
Probably the most radical change in 2023 took place in January. The new Erex 2.0 technology moved to the Cloud. Erex 2.0 in the Cloud was the next natural step based on where technology has progressed recently. This move has several exceptional benefits, like:
- Standardised Solutions – Using the Cloud to access Erex 2.0 allows partners to all have the same access.
- Reduced Costs – We are now able to offer a lower system cost than what a physical service would represent.
- Greater Efficiency – Productivity increases as Eress Partnerships grow and more countries work together.
- Easy to Scale – We can scale up and down for specific performance, paying only for what is used.
Gulbrandsen confirms that security is very high on the agenda.
“Every task the developers undertake requires heightened security now. We conduct regular hacking tests for vulnerabilities. This is the new normal in the technology world.” Eress follows strict restrictions from the owners and the Steering Group. The first requirement is that the Cloud has to be hosted in the EU, with the same requirements in all countries. Eress focuses on equality among all partners in every aspect of the business.
Continuing climate-friendly ways by working virtually
The shift to virtual work during the early days of the pandemic meant utilising virtual meetings in situations where in-person meetings were routine. Once travel opened back up, Eress decided to maintain those climatefriendly working methods. Now, to disseminate information, the first choice is to use virtual meetings. Digital conferences such as Eress Events draw a wide digital audience of hundreds. Internal meetings, specialised testing sessions, meetings large and small support active discussions using virtual platforms. Eress distributes newsletters and other publications digitally to partners and other stakeholders to support transparency and openness. Eress has always worked in several European countries, so digital collaboration methods have existed since the beginning. Now, the combination of Teams and physical meetings is the best of both worlds.