Rail-Flow’s purpose is best captured not in words, but in a target toward a more sustainable society: saving one million tonnes of CO₂ by 2030, a direct result of shifting road kilometres onto rail and helping achieve the EU’s target modal share of 30% for rail logistics. To make that target measurable, we launched our Impact Working Group together with investors Trill and Climentum, and are now actively working on turning this ambition into something we can track, report, and prove. 

Building a company in an industry as complex and fragmented as European rail freight comes with its share of obstacles. But results like these are a clear reminder of why the work of digitalising and innovating the rail industry is worth doing. 

The case for modal shift is clear 

Transport accounts for roughly 29%* of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, and road freight is among the hardest parts to fix. Heavy-duty vehicles alone are responsible for approximately 20% of the sector’s total emissions, making freight one of the most carbon-intensive and difficult-to-decarbonise parts of the European economy. (Source: European Environment Agency, Sustainability of Europe’s Mobility Systems, 2024)

Rail, by contrast, accounts for just 0.4% of transport emissions, while carrying nearly 18 % of all EU freight by tonne-kilometre. Rail produces up to 80% fewer CO₂ emissions per tonne-kilometre than road. Even the EU’s own Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy acknowledges that optimising road transport alone cannot close the emissions gap.

The environmental case for rail is well established. The structural challenge has always been a different one: the intermodal market has historically been opaque, capacity hard to find, and operators fragmented across dozens of countries and systems. Shippers and forwarders willing to choose rail often couldn’t do so at scale — not because rail was the wrong choice, but because the market wasn’t set up to make it an easy one. 

Measurable outcomes, not aspirations 

Saving more than 1M tonnes of CO₂ aren’t a projection. Emissions are calculated using EcoTransIT’s well-to-wheel methodology, one of the most rigorous emissions accounting frameworks available, and represent actual shipments made by companies that chose rail because it was finally accessible to them. 

That’s what contributing to a greener transport system looks like in practice: impact that doesn’t live on a slide, but emerges directly from our eco-system being put to work. 

It’s also what motivates Rail-Flow to keep building. Road transport isn’t going away, nor should it, but the most efficient freight journeys increasingly combine modes. Every booking that shifts even part of a journey to rail is progress, and at scale, progress compounds.

The Work Isn’t Done 

The modal shift Europe needs won’t happen overnight. Rail’s share of freight is still far too small. The technical, commercial, and cultural barriers are real and persistent. Digitalisation and AI innovation is not a silver bullet, but it is a prerequisite: freight cannot move to a mode that is invisible or inaccessible at scale. 

Progress is being made. And the direction is clear: every journey that shifts even part of its route from road-only to intermodal is a concrete step toward a freight system that is more efficient, more resilient, and more sustainable.

That’s what motivates Rail-Flow to keep digitalising and innovating the industry. Not because the problem is simple, but because the contribution is real and measurable. 

*EEA Transport & Mobility, 2022