The rail freight sector is facing a multitude of challenges such as lack of network capacity and productivity. Manual processes still entail worker’s safety risks. Rail must adopt the emerging digital technologies to meet the customer needs. FP5-TRANS4M-R brings together 71 partners from end-users, large industry, railway undertakings – operators and wagon keepers, SMEs, academia and research, delivering on the rail freight sector’s commitment to increase of the modal split share to 50% by 2030 revoking the causality between economic growth in Europe and pollution as well as congestions, positively impacting Europe’s citizens quality of life. FP5-TRANS4M-R’s overall goal is to establish rail freight as backbone of the lowest emission and most resilient logistics chain in Europe fulfilling the end customer requirements to their full satisfaction. Two technology clusters “Full Digital Freight Train Operation (FDFTO)” and “Seamless Freight Operation” will develop, validate and demonstrate the FP5-TRANS4M-R technologies following an integrated systemic approach across the sector, in a competitive manner - as only then the expected automation benefits can be fully realised. Integrating DAC-enabled solutions at non- arguable interoperability with software defined systems and digital rail services will lead to increased capacity, higher throughput and shorter transportation duration. It will strengthen the cross-border coordination and cooperation between rail infrastructure managers and finally deliver optimised overall management of the rail network. FP5-TRANS4M-R's credo is: seamless, integrated, interoperable, validated and EU-wide authorised solutions, to achieve a single EU rail freight technology framework with strictly managed interfaces for an effective system integration and seamless operation across countries, actors and modes. These objectives set the foundation, frame, and ambition for the project with an impact on the overall transport and logistics sector in EU.

In the future European mobility system, freight rail plays a key role in making a significant contribution to achieving the goals of the European Green Deal. The fastest and most efficient way to decarbonize freight transport is to shift freight to rail. To achieve this shift, the overall competitiveness of rail in the transport market should be improved. To strengthen the role of freight rail in the transportation market, it is necessary to attract the attention of freight customers. One manner to increase the awareness of rail freight is to provide customers with high-quality and open information about the possibilities of rail transport and the associated benefits of rail freight. The objective of the ESEP4Freight project is therefore to provide freight customers with an overview of the available rail freight services in Europe via a web platform. This will be supported by the creation of a Web Platform based on an existing map developed by SKGV that identifies freight flows with a higher potential for transport by rail. The Web Platform will include an Interactive map with different modules such as CO2 calculator, a schedule viewer, a contract toolbox and a match making tool. In addition, ESEP4Freight aims to support the shift of freight to rail by analysing the current contractual framework, proposing a set of recommendations for its updated and suggesting a set of harmonised and standardised models for transport agreements and contracts. The set of harmonised contracts will be also the base for piloting a new set of blockchain-based specifications for simplifying transport agreements and contracts.

ICONET will significantly extend state of the art research and development around the PI concept in pursuit of a new networked architecture for interconnected logistics hubs that combine with IoT capabilities and aiming towards commercial exploitation of results. ICONET strives to achieve the end commercial goal of allowing shipments to be routed towards final destinations automatically, by using collaborative decisions inspired by the information centric networking paradigm, and optimizing efficiency and customer service levels across the whole network. According to this vision, cargo regarded as smart physical packets will flow between hubs based on ‘content’ of the cargo influencing key commercial imperatives such as cost, optimisation, routing, efficiency and advancing EU's Green agenda. Consequently, the consortium are discernibly aimed at three (3) avenues of commercialisation and exploitation from the ICONET innovation, specifically targeted in the areas of (a) Warehousing as a service, (b) E-commerce fulfillment as a service, and (c) Synchromodality as a service. PI based logistic configurations will be simulated, prototyped and validated in the project . Modelling and analysis techniques will be combined with serious game type simulation, physical and digital prototyping, using living lab (LL) requirements scenarios and data. With analyses and simulations, optimal topologies and distribution policies for PI will be determined. The project implementation will be based on a succession of phases of modelling and design/prototyping, learning and experimentation and feedback and interaction with the wider business community, including the ALICE logistics platform as well as members of the partner Associations ESC, UIRR and ELUPEG. Through its Living Labs, the project will address under the PI paradigm both Supply Network Collaboration and Supply Network Coordination.