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Horizon Europe Cluster 5 — Climate, Energy and Mobility

Horizon Mobility: Multimodal Freight Logistics

Funds three €6.5M grants for digital tools that connect rail, inland waterway and short-sea freight data into the platforms carriers already use.

OpenEuropean CommissionEU

Freight demand in Europe is set to double in the coming decades, but the growth keeps going to trucks, not rail, inland waterways or short-sea shipping. The EU wants to double rail freight's share and grow water-based freight by 50% by 2050, and one of the reasons multimodal transport keeps losing to road is data: rail, inland waterway and multimodal information isn't connected into the systems sh

Designing and demonstrating interoperable digital tools that plug into the platforms shippers, carriers, freight forwarders, warehouse operators, distribution centres, retailers and e-commerce platforms already use — giving them real-time visibility, tracking and predictive analytics across rail, inland waterway and short-sea multimodal transport, and helping them react to disruptions. Proposals map the datasets multimodal logistics needs, explore smart-container tracking and synchromodal routing, and define multimodal use cases for intra-European flows of 500-1,000 km. The tools have to be proven in two large pilots on different segments of Europe's main freight corridors, geographically balanced and covering different industrial sectors. Building a new digital platform of any kind is explicitly out of scope.

CycleiHow often this grant runs — e.g. annually, on a rolling basis, or a one-off call.One-off
Next deadlineiThe next date applications are due. Rolling means you can apply any time.8 Oct 2026
Decision timeiTypical time from the deadline to the funder's decision.22 weeks
Project durationiHow long the funded work is expected to run.
Award typeiThe form of funding — grant, equity, loan, tax credit, etc.Grant
Match fundingiThe share of project costs you must cover yourself. 0% = fully funded.30%
Funding pooliThe total budget available across all awards in this round.€20M

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Last verified: 25 Aug 2026Funder reference: HORIZON-CL5-2026-10-D6-06Source: ec.europa.eu