Speaking at the FERRMED Conference during SIL Barcelona 2026, ESC Secretary General Godfried Smit highlighted the need to move beyond infrastructure development and transform the Mediterranean Corridor into an intelligent logistics ecosystem.
While acknowledging the significant investments made in railway infrastructure and cross-border connections, he stressed that shippers ultimately measure success not by kilometres of track built but by the reliability, efficiency, and predictability of transport services. For freight users, reliability often matters more than speed, and uncertainty remains one of the main barriers to greater use of rail transport.
Smit identified several challenges that continue to affect the performance of the corridor, including cross-border operational differences, fragmented information flows, logistical bottlenecks at ports and terminals, and insufficient first- and last-mile connectivity. Addressing these issues requires not only infrastructure investment but also stronger coordination between all actors involved in the supply chain.
Looking ahead, he emphasised the growing role of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in making freight transport more flexible, efficient, and customer-oriented. Technologies such as real-time tracking, digital freight platforms, and AI-supported capacity management could help improve network performance, facilitate the consolidation of smaller freight flows, and strengthen the competitiveness of rail transport.
Concluding his intervention, Godfried argued that the future success of the Mediterranean Corridor will depend on its ability to deliver seamless multimodal logistics services. By combining infrastructure, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and improved connectivity, the corridor can evolve into a truly integrated logistics ecosystem that supports Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience.