Only 5% of companies choose intermodal in three Italian key regions

Marco Raimondi — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 09:42:02 +0000

Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna are three of the most productive regions in Italy and logistics plays a key role here in connecting businesses with ports. However, the percentage of companies choosing intermodal services has been below 5% three of the last four years, according to an annual joint study from Contship and SRM.
The only exception was 2023, where 20% of companies stated they were using intermodal services to connect their sites with ports. Overall, the average between 2019 and 2025 was a not-so-optimal 11%, with a staggering 89% of participants in the study choosing only-road transport. Over the past two years this has grown even worse, as over 95% of companies have been choosing trucks over trains.

Some optimism transpired for the future, as 21% of the companies answering claimed they will or are planning to implement intermodal services to reach ports. These good intentions, however, mostly come from Lombardian respondents (38%). Only 13% of the ones from Veneto pledged to use intermodality while for Emilia Romagna it did not go over 7%.

Changes in causes

One thing that has changed in 2025 are the reasons why customers prefer the road over intermodal. Lower costs remain the main motive, but the percentage changed from 59% in 2024 to 43% last year. On the other hand, reliability and safety and force of habit increased. Companies saying they use the road because they have always done so more than doubled from 17% to 35%. Respondents thinking that road transport is safer and more reliable than intermodal services also grew from 20% in 2024 to 31% in 2025.

SRM | RailFreight.com

Only 5% of companies choose intermodal in three Italian key regions

Changes in causes